“Fine.”

She might be new at this, but she was still a journalist. Her job was to dig and dig deep, even into uncomfortable territory, to make the subject at ease enough with her that he’d divulge secrets he might not otherwise want to delve into.

She’d do it with Trevor if she had to, but she hoped he’d feel comfortable enough with her that he wouldn’t even notice the probing questions.

“What was the first organized sport you remember playing, and how old were you?”

“That’s easy. Soccer. I was five. Though I don’t know if you could call it organized.”

She laughed. “Yes, I remember. I played, too. My parents referred to it as bunch ball, because we gathered around the ball in a bunch and chased after it.”

“Yeah, T-ball was a little better. I played that, too. Then Pee Wee league football.”

She’d started typing in notes. “You liked sports a lot as a kid.”

“I was a hellion with excess energy. My mom had to keep me busy, so I played sports year round.”

“Is that what you wanted to do?”

“I loved playing. And my mom was right. I didn’t like to sit and be quiet. I wasn’t much for quiet time, watching a movie or reading a book. I wanted to be outside running around and doing things.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I have a brother. He’s younger than me.” When she didn’t say anything, he added, “His name is Zane. He’s still in college.”

“So quite a bit younger than you.”

“Yeah. He’s my half brother, actually. My parents divorced when I was seven years old. My mom remarried and had Zane.”

She hadn’t known his parents divorced. So much she didn’t know. She was making copious notes.

“Are you and Zane close?”

Trevor grinned. “Yeah. He’s great. So smart. He’s premed, so he’s going to be a doctor. He graduates next spring and then he’ll start medical school. My mom and stepdad are so proud of him. Hell, we all are.”

“I’m sure she is. Just like she’s very proud of you.”

“Oh, yeah, sure she is. But you know, sports isn’t medicine. I’m not gonna save someone’s life catching a football or hitting a home run.”

“I don’t think it’s very fair to compare yourself to your brother’s career choice, though. You’re doing what you love, following where your talents lie. So is your brother.”

He shrugged. “True enough. Next question.”

And he glossed over the fact that it obviously bothered him that his brother had chosen an important career path and he for some reason felt his wasn’t.

“How often do you see your brother?”

“As often as we can get together.”

“Where does he go to school?”

“He’s getting his premed degree at Washington University here in St. Louis, where he’d also like to go to med school. I think, given his grades, it’s a given he’ll stay there.”

Haven smiled. “How wonderful for him.”

“Yeah. Like I said, he’s really smart.”

“I’d like to meet him and interview him.”

“I’ll see what his schedule looks like and maybe arrange that.”

“Thanks.”

She looked over her notes. “Tell me about your dad. What happened after the divorce?”

“No.”

“No, what?”

“I don’t want to talk about my dad.”

“You and your father aren’t close?”

“I love my mom. My stepdad is an awesome guy and stepped in when my father wasn’t around, which was most of my childhood. He’s the real dad in my life. Let’s just leave my father out of this whole process.”

She put the laptop to the side. “Okay. Off the record, tell me about your dad.”

He stood. “Not now. Let’s take a break. How about a swim before it gets too hot and before I have to leave for the ballpark?”

She looked up at him. “Trevor, we’ve just started and there’s a lot of material to go over.”

He came over to her and grabbed her hand and tugged her up. “And plenty of time to get there. Come on, a quick swim and we’ll get back to work. Life is meant to be lived, Haven. Let’s have some fun.”

She hesitated, then finally nodded, figuring if she kept him happy, he’d be more amenable to answering her questions—even the tough ones. “Okay, but only a short break.”

AN HOUR LATER, TREVOR TREADED WATER IN THE DEEP end while he watched Haven sitting on the pool steps in the shallows. Her elbows rested on the edge of the pool and her face was tilted up toward the sun. She looked . . . relaxed, which was exactly how he wanted her.

This morning was going well. She’d dived into the questions, seemingly into her work, which had been the goal. Unfortunately, it had been him who’d put a stop to everything when she’d brought up his dad.

He couldn’t go there. Not right now, and never on the record. This break was just what he’d needed to get Haven’s mind on a different track. Plus, she seemed to be having a good time. Or at least, she didn’t seem down.

“How can you ever go to work when you have a backyard like this?” she asked, tilting her face up to meet the sun. “If I lived here, I think I’d live in the pool. Plus, it’s heated, so you can swim in here until at least the end of October, depending on the weather.”

“Yeah, it’s really nice. That’s why I bought the place. It’ll see me through to the championship, provided we make it that far.”

“And what do you think of the Rivers’ chances this year?” she asked.

“Pretty damn good. After all, they have me.”

She laughed. He swam toward her and pulled up a spot on the ledge next to her. “So you think you could get used to a decadent lifestyle, huh?”

She slid her sunglasses on top of her head. “What can I say? I’m easily swayed.”

“I don’t believe that. You were always so driven in college. You of the dual degrees and all.”

The look of surprise on her face made him smile.

“How did you know that? You barely paid attention to me.”

“Maybe I do know more about you than you know about me.”

“Seriously. How did you know that?”

“Your dad and I had some conversations. He was very proud of you. He said you could have done anything with your life that you wanted—you got your degree in special education and in journalism.”

“And I chose journalism.” She looked out over the water. “I don’t know if that’s very noble.”

“It’s what you wanted to do, isn’t it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose at the time. It seemed more exciting to me. I had the opportunity to travel and I so wanted to get out of Oklahoma. Plus, I love sports. That’s why I chose journalism over teaching.”

“Sports is exciting to me. I couldn’t dream of ever doing anything else. You think what I do is noble?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

“Okay, then. So neither of us is noble. Get over yourself, Haven.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand. At first I wanted to teach. I loved tutoring, loved the classes, but the lure of journalism was there, too. Hence the dual degrees. I couldn’t decide what I wanted more. And that’s why it took me longer to graduate, too.”

“So you’re beating yourself up because you’re doing what makes you happy?”

“Who says I’m beating myself up?”

And he wondered if she was really happy. “I do. Journalism is an exciting career.”

“Teaching can be, too.”

“Teaching is a grueling, thankless career and you know it. I’m sure it was a tough career choice to make.”

“But I loved it. I loved the classes, loved my students when I was tutoring, and student teaching. Why didn’t I choose that instead?”

“Because you didn’t love it enough?”

She sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t like this—” She looked at him. “This used to fuel me. And the opportunity I had to do sportscasting for a network. God, a year ago I would have killed for a spot like that.”

“But?”

“But then, you know, the stuff with my dad happened.”

“And it threw you off. It banked the fire some.”

“I guess so. Lately I’ve been in some kind of funk and I can’t seem to drag myself out of it.”

“Because you miss your dad, and that’s okay.”

“It’s been long enough. I shouldn’t still feel this way.”

“I don’t think you can put a timeline on grief. You feel it and it consumes you until it doesn’t anymore.”

She looked over at him. “You speak like you know about it.”

“I’ve lost some people I care about, so yeah. I do know how it feels. And I cared about your dad, too. Losing him was hard on me. I still feel like there’s a hole, like something’s missing in my life.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “I know you cared deeply for my dad. He loved you, too. He loved all you guys like you were his kids.”

“Not as much as he loved you. He talked about you all the time. He was so damn proud of you, Haven. And no matter what choices you make, he’d still be proud of you.”

She nodded, and he saw the tears fill her eyes.

“Yeah.”

She stood and started up the steps. “I think that’s enough playtime. How about we get back to work?”

He’d started this with his conversation about her dad. She’d been relaxed and having fun, and now she was hurting again. Time to change the mood.

“I don’t know. You look like you might need to get dunked.”

Before she could object, he stood, swooped her up into his arms, and dunked them both underwater.

She came up sputtering, parting her hair that had fallen in front of her face.

“Goddammit, Trevor. Talk about a blindside.”

He laughed and shook his head back and forth to clear the water from his eyes and his hair from his face.

Haven pushed away, shoving her palm over the surface of the water to splash at him. She swam to the stairs and climbed out.