Page 74 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

None of which seem to involve stayingin Laandia.

My heart hurts for Silas, who listens to Wyatt without saying a word. Another person he loves will leave him.

I don’t want to hurt him.

Chapter twenty-eight

Silas

Ican hear Fenellanext door.

She has Taylor Swift turned up loud enough for me to hear it faintly, as well as the odd snippet of Fenella occasionally singing. There’s some thumping, one crash that almost had me running over to check on her.

I really doubt she’s ever cleaned anything in her life.

The temptation of going in to see how it’s going is strong, but I resist until lunchtime. And then I tell Leodie I have an errand and run out to the bakery to get two sandwiches.

Even though I live next door, I always bring my lunch, because it’s never a quick trip if I run next door. I’ll finish the dishes, throw on a load of laundry, or check something on my PC.

Today I don’t feel like the leftover stew I brought from home.

I knock on the door, bakery bag in my hand, and then ease it open. “Feel like taking a break?” I call.

Fenella backs out of one of the bathrooms, rubber gloves up to her elbows and a facemask over her mouth and nose. “Hi,” she says, voice muffled. “A break sounds good.”

She peels off the gloves and leaves them on the floor along with the mask. She’s braided her dark hair into two plaits and then tied them in little buns at the back of her head, which makes her look much younger. I pull the table out from the kitchen, wincing at the uneven legs. “I feel horrible that this is such a mess and you have to clean it up,” I burst out.

“Don’t be.” She follows me with two chairs. “It’s fun.”

“Really?”

“Well, maybe not cleaning the bathrooms. I don’t know if you believe this, but I’ve never cleaned anything in my life.”

“I believe it.” I hand her a turkey on rye, with avocado and spinach. I guessed what she’d like.

Fenella looks around with consternation. “It doesn’t look bad, does it?”

“It looks great,” I assure her. “Almost like a new place. I just thought that with your lifestyle, housekeeping wouldn’t be something you usually do.”

“Ah. No.” She shakes her head. “First time cleaning a toilet.”

“You’ll remember it forever,” I tease. “We could go upstairs to my place,” I add. “If this isn’t…”

“This is fine. Thank you for bringing me lunch. It was really sweet of you.”

“I didn’t think you’d stop,” I admit, handing her a bottle of water. “I’ve heard you banging all morning. It sounds like you haven’t taken a break.”

“I’ve done a lot.” There’s pride in her tone as she looks around, taking in the ceiling corners without the cobwebs, the piles of dust and dirt and leaves swept up and inside a black garbage bag. “I’m going to wash everything once I finish the bathroom.”

“For someone’s first time, you’re pretty speedy.” I take a bite of my roast beef sandwich.

“You’d be surprised what a YouTube video can teach you.”

I laugh, and Fenella grins at my reaction. “It was nice to see Wyatt there today.”

“He’s there most weekends. It gives him some spending money, plus I think it’s good for kids to have a job. I mean,” I stammer, forgetting that before I hired her, Fenella had never had a regular job.

“I agree. My first “job”—” she uses her fingers as quotation marks— “—was for the family company. When I was ten, my father let Ashton and me pick the colours for the new toy cars. He left us with Evan—”

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