“Uh...” Come on, Popi. You can do better than that. She swallowed hard. “The baby is fine.” She forced a smile to her face as her insides shivered with nervous energy. “I promise.”
It was sad that upon seeing her that he would jump to the conclusion that something was amiss. Was it such a leap for him to consider another reason for her being out here to see him?
She was right to have come here. If they were going to do this co-parenting thing, with the child splitting time between her on the island and Apollo here at the estate, they needed to be friends—not just two people who coexisted during a brutal storm. Even though he’d opened up to her that special night, he’d since shut down again. She hoped to bridge the gap once more.
Apollo’s brows drew together. “Then why are you out here?”
Again, it was sad that he had to ask that question instead of just enjoying her company. She worried her bottom lip and glanced away. And then she wondered if coming here to the garden—to his private area—his sanctuary—had been a mistake.
“I came out here because... Well, I thought we, um...” Being near him was making her unusually nervous.
“How are you at gardening?” He turned back to the tree and finished packing the dirt.
“I, uh, don’t have any experience. We always lived in the city, so the only plants we had were in pots in the windows. I must admit I never bothered with them. That was my mother’s territory.”
“It’s never too late to learn.” He gave her outfit a quick once-over. “But I’m sure you don’t want to get your nice outfit all dirty.”
She glanced down at her blue capris and white knit top. She did like this outfit. It fit her well and yet it was also comfortable. But she had a choice to make: stain her favorite outfit while making inroads with Apollo or walk away, leaving the awkward distance between them.
Without hesitation, Popi moved next to him and dropped down to her knees. “Where do we start?”
For the first time since Seb was born, Apollo smiled at her. “This sapling is done.”
“Oh.” A frown pulled at her lips. She must have misunderstood him.
“Don’t worry. I have plenty more waiting to be planted.” He got to his feet, pulled off his gloves and then held his hand out to her.
She placed her hand in his, and immediately a jolt of awareness raced up her arm and set her heart aflutter. Her gaze met his. The cool indifference that he’d shown her since they’d returned home with baby Seb was gone. In its place was warmth and, dare she say it, a twinkle of interest.
He led her to another secluded spot, where he’d already removed a patch of weeds and was ready to plant a lemon tree. Out here in the garden, he was chatty. So long as she supplied questions about anything pertaining to the garden, he gave her lengthy, informative answers.
Was it possible it was the house that put him in a sullen mood and not her? He did say he and his father had a turbulent past. Perhaps there were too many bad memories tied up in the house.
As they worked together, adding the water around the roots, followed by the loose dirt, Popi asked, “Why did you return here?” When he sent her a puzzled look, she added, “You know—instead of selling the estate and getting a place, um...” She knew she had to be careful how she phrased this, as she didn’t want to undo the progress they’d made so far. “Someplace smaller for just you...and Seb.”
Relief filtered over his face as though he were expecting some other question. He shrugged and returned to adding the dirt back around the tree. “It’s the Drakos estate. And I’m a Drakos. And this is Seb’s home.”
Where he had been giving her lengthy answers, she noticed that he’d reverted back to his short answers. She also noticed how he said this was the baby’s home—not his. There was more he wasn’t saying, but he didn’t need to. He was drawn to this place because it was part of his heritage, but it was also mired in bad memories. She wondered if there was any way to untangle the two.
“Stop.” Apollo’s voice drew her from her musings.
“Stop what?” She glanced down at her hands, but she hadn’t been doing anything.