Page 34 of Enemies Under One Roof

‘Of what?’

‘Her.’ Luc rolled his eyes.

‘You don’t need to warn me, either of you. I know what I’m doing.’

He said it with a confidence that felt far from real, because Ivy had lodged under his skin and refused to budge. What if there was a way to dislodge that and friends with benefits was an option for them? Not long term, of course, but just once, to eradicate this out-of-control attraction for good?

* * *

The following afternoon Ivy stood beside Ethan and stared at the murky outdoor pool.

She shuddered. ‘I can’t believe you used to swim in it.’

‘Neither can I. It was like this the first time I saw it, too, but I was a kid and Ruby put us boys to good use, no doubt in an endeavour to keep the three of us occupied. We spent hours, supervised by a local contractor who specialised in Victorian swimming pools, which in hindsight must have cost her a bomb. Then we used it every summer holiday for years. Hopefully, she thought it was worth it,’ Ethan said wistfully his hands jammed into his pockets.

‘I bet it was fun.’

‘When the weather was good, we practically had to be dragged out of it, or lured with food.’

She laughed. ‘Then I’d say Ruby probably thought it was worth every cent.’

‘I hope so,’ he said gruffly.

‘Did you swim in LA?’

‘All the time, but the weather there is better.’ He looked up at the laden sky and grimaced. ‘What about you, growing up in Australia?’

‘Same, but only in the ocean. I still have to be enticed to get into a pool, and this is far from enticing.’

His deep laugh rumbled across her skin.

‘That’s one way to describe it.’

‘Is this the shallow end?’ she asked in a bid to remind herself why she was here with Ethan, and it wasn’t to admire his laugh, or the way the breeze ruffled his hair, which he’d kept a little longer than when he first arrived and which suited him far too much for her peace of mind. Especially since their kiss and dance.

‘No, down there.’ Ethan pointed to the other end of the forty-foot pool. ‘It’s hard to see underneath all the algae and leaves, but there’s a few steps down. And to the side you can see the foundations of a changing hut, gone long before I arrived. According to the contractor, both the pool and hut were built at the same time as WillowGlen and were common features in Victorian manors.’

Talking about the pool was why they were there, and she couldn’t get distracted by Ethan and her relentless attraction to him. She had to stay focused on the retreat and the work they had to do over the next three weeks, because what other option was there? There was no future ever for the feelings he was stirring up in her.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t know it existed, nor ever discovered it on my ramblings,’ Ivy said.

‘It would have been overgrown again by the time you started coming here.’

There was a gap of about five years between Ethan starting university and her first visit, long enough for the pool to fall back into disrepair. It was only when they were discussing the grounds and outbuildings and Ethan mentioned the pool, that Ivy had learnt of its existence.

‘Did Ruby ever use it?’ Ivy asked, trying to work out how she could have missed such a feature.

‘She said she had parties here when she was growing up, but it all stopped after My Don died. And as far as I know, even after the pool had been fixed, she never came to see it. Not even when it was being used by us.’

‘That’s…that’s heartbreaking.’ Ivy’s heart squeezed at more evidence of Ruby’s loss. Being here in this spot where she must have had so many good times as a child and young adult, which had stopped so abruptly when her fiancé had died, hit Ivy hard. So much loss, so much longing. Ivy couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be loved like that. So totally and fully.

Until it hit her; she had been, by her parents. Dread and guilt swirled in her belly.

Ethan toed a weed in the paving stones by the side of the pool. ‘I could kick myself now for being so insensitive, but at the time I was completely oblivious. As I got older and heard more about My Don and the impact his death had on her, I realised even decades later she was still grieving for him.’

‘No wonder she understood grief so well,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t piece it together earlier when we were deciding what to focus on. Ruby got it, because she’d lived with it for years.’ Just like Ivy had, but without the added horrific guilt.

He turned to face her, regret and pain marring his handsome face. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? She was always one step ahead.’ He ran a hand over his hair, then jammed it back into his jacket pocket.