It's a bit chilly outside, but the expanse of indigo blue sky peeking from behind cottony clouds promises a lovely afternoon.

I put on my hoodie and point at the Rover in front of me. "Your undercover car?"

"Not really." Haze chuckles. "More like my countryside car. It's ideal for getting around on dirt roads and through mud."

"Is that what you do out here? Drive your Rover through the mud?"

"Sort of." He adjusts the collar of his jacket. "The Jaguar isn't built for that. Driving around here is a lot more fun with a car I don't need to keep clean and tidy."

I nod and grin. He sounds like a little boy talking about his toy cars.

When we turn towards the backside of the cottage, a soft breeze ruffles the spring green leaves on the majestic plane trees that flank the building like tall sentinels. There's a narrow pathway lined by neatly trimmed hawthorn hedges leading towards a large area with vegetable patches right behind the house.

"And what exactly is this business you are doing around here?"

"I visit the surrounding farms to evaluate their produce. While I grow my own fruits, I still depend on other suppliers to complete my range of products. I believe in offering only the highest quality, so I make sure to check everything in person."

"Ah, yes, it's the making-people-happy thing." I draw another imaginary sign in the air and Haze answers me with a grin.

"Yes, it is. Only happy clients will be returning customers."

At the end of the pathway, Haze gears his steps across stone slabs that frame the vegetable beds in rectangles of tilled earth, leafy greens and what appears to be a beautifully arranged herbary. I soak in the view while he points left and right.

"This is Kronos's terrain. He's an expert when it gets to vegetables. Nemea has taken to grow her own herbs, so we gave her a corner over there where she can experiment as much as she likes."

I'm kind of curious to ask about Nemea's mother, but since Haze hasn't mentioned her, I decide to swallow my question. Families can be a complicated thing. No need to ask the wrong thing so early on.

The air is heavy with the scent of early blooming basil and marjoram in decorative pots. I take a deep breath. "This is really nice. Wouldn't you want to live out here? If I had an estate like this, I'd never want to go back to the city."

"Have you looked around?" He raises his eyebrows and makes a sweeping gesture with his arms. His leather jacket opens just enough to grant me a glimpse of exactly how well-fitting his t-shirt is.

"It's really pretty." I quickly glance at a little stream that weaves itself through the grass like a silver ribbon.

"You are right, but it's also pretty remote. Not much catering to do in this corner of the country. Most of the business is in the city because that's where the majority of events take place."

"But do you enjoy living in the city?" I bury my hands in the pockets of my hoodie as we walk on. Just in case. I'm not used to having such a gorgeous-looking man within my reach.

"It's not about enjoyment, but about what's best for the business." We take a pathway at the far end of the vegetable patches towards the rows of trees that grow larger as we approach them. "And who knows, maybe I just want to live there beneath the blue suburban skies?" He hums a melody I only know all too well and then he looks at me, the corner of his mouth twitching. He's holding back a smile. I can see it.

"You do know the song then." I narrow my eyes.

"Everyone knows Penny Lane." He shrugs. "It's a classic."

"So why didn't you make a joke when I told you my name at the wedding?"

"I didn't think you would have appreciated it, besides, your name isn't a joke. It's pretty and fits you well."

From the corner of my eye, I see that he's looking at me, but decide to keep my own gaze ahead.

"Tell that to all the guys who think that, Oh, Penny Lane, like the Beatles song is the most creative pick up line ever. Like I haven't heard that a hundred times over."

I let out an indignant huff and kick a pebble. It bounces off a tumbled log along the walkway.

"So your mother is a Beatles fan then, I take it?"

"Yeah, you bet she is. She's really obsessed with anything related to the sixties, even though she wasn't even born back then."

We've reached the beginning of the orchards, where young apple and cherry trees are standing in organised rows, the budding leaves a verdant green. Soon they will be in bloom and it's easy for me to imagine how beautiful this is going to look all covered in white and pink petals.

"Your mother is definitely unconventional in her own way and very determined to get what she wants. You want to know how I got that deal at her wedding?"

"Sure." I nod, watching a pair of lilac butterflies hovering in a fairy-like dance over the lush grass.

"I got a call from her just a day before the wedding because her original caterer had to cancel and she said that if I could provide the whole buffet in less than twenty-four hours, her husband-to-be would make sure I'd get the gig his marketing firm was planning on hosting over in Acheron. I've been looking to gain a foothold over there for years, so I couldn't say no to the offer. The next day was easily the most hectic in my entire career, but it was definitely worth it."

He stops in his tracks as if he were pondering what to say next. I come to stand right beside him and turn my face to look up to him. Our arms are almost brushing and I find myself wishing they would. Still, I don't pull my hands out of the pockets of my hoodie. A flock of birds soars overhead, splotches of black on a canvas of blue and white.

"It was worth it, not just because of the deal, but because I met you." His voice dips so low, it feels like a velvet caress on my skin.

A smile escapes my mouth before I can hold it back. My palms are sweaty inside my pockets and the heat rushing to my cheeks isn't because of the sunlight hitting my face.

"It was a nice coincidence." It had to be. I don't believe in fate, just like I don't believe in love.

"I don't think it was a coincidence." He runs a hand through his raven-black hair and the liquid gracefulness of his movements makes me wonder if he's entirely human. "Everything in life happens for a reason." His gaze is fixed on me. "The good and the bad, it's just up to us what we make of it."

"Whatever it is, fate or coincidence, I'd rather not think that my mother had her hands in it. She always likes to meddle in everyone's life." The thought of my mother makes the butterflies in my stomach crumble to dust.

"And you really don't like that she meddles in your life, am I right?"

"I'd rather have her minding her own business. At least Richard should keep her busy for a while, so she stops trying to plan my every move."

"Maybe she just wants you to be happy? That's what mothers usually want for their children."

Haze reaches for a branch of the cherry tree beside him and gives the buds a scrutinising look.

I shrug. "Yeah, I guess." The sun has crawled behind a large cloud, a breeze picking up out of seemingly nowhere. Despite my hoodie, a shiver runs through me.

"Are you cold?" Haze looks at me and then shoots the sky an assessing glance. "We could go to the greenhouses now. It's a lot warmer in there than out here."

"Yeah, let's do that." I pull my hood over my head to shield myself from the cold that has snuck under my clothes...and into me.