An ache rises up in my chest. I look over at him. “I’m sorry for how I treated you when we met.”
“You’ve already apologized for that,” he says, stopping at an intersection of the garden pathways.
“I know, but… I feel like I should say it more.”
“It’s fine. I promise.” Declan looks left and then right. “Which way do we go?”
“This way.”
We walk a little further, and as we get deeper and deeper into the gardens, Declan keeps sneaking little glances at me. Like maybe he’s wondering if I’m lost. But I’m not lost.
We approach the wall with the hidden door. I stop and turn to him. “Key, please.”
He hands it to me.
I take a deep breath. If this doesn’t work, I’ll be crushed. Belle won’t have a garden to visit. I’ll be a liar who let her down.
My teeth wear into my bottom lip as I approach the wall. From here it just looks like vines of green leaves that stretch wide and tall. But I know what lies underneath it. I feel for the door, and then uncover the lock. I slide the key into the hole, and it fits perfectly. I twist it.
It’s rusted and old and hard to turn, like my dorm room lock was when I first moved in. But I put some muscle into it, refusing to be proven wrong. This will work. It has to.
The lock clinks, and releases.
“Holy crap,” Declan breathes from beside me. I look up at him and grin. “Can you help me?”
We both grab the large metal handle and pull. The door easily opens a few inches, abut then the vines are all overgrown and blocking us. Declan takes a pair of garden sheers from his pocket and gently snips at all of the vines, until the outline of the door is visible.
The door swings open. I bounce up and down on my toes.
“I can’t believe it,” he says, looking down at me.
“Why don’t you go first?” I say.
He holds out his hand. “Together.”
I reach for it, and a jolt of electricity shoots through my body as we hold hands. We step through the door and into the hidden garden.
The area in front of us is rounded, with polished cobblestones making a circular path around a large granite fountain in the middle. Water gushes through the fountain just like it does in all of the other fountains in the rest of the gardens, only this one hasn’t been touched in a very, very long time. There are roses and lilies and orchids, and dozens of flowers that I can’t name, all left to grow and flourish on their own.
We see little bits of other statues around the garden, that are mostly covered up from the flowers and vines. An angel here, a small child there. One even looks like a puppy.
The air smells better than any flower bouquet I’ve ever had. It’s a perfect mixture of floral and sunshine, and I wish I could wear it as a perfume.
Declan and I wander around in silence for a few minutes, just taking in the sight of the beauty around us. There is only one bench in here, a large wooden masterpiece that’s set up like a throne that’s big enough for two people to sit on.
I run my hand across the wood and then look up at Declan.
“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
He takes a step forward, his silky hair glistening in the sunlight, his eyes sparkling from the water in the fountain. “It’s the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he says softly.
He’s close enough now that I can see the little dots of gold in his eyes.
“What could be more beautiful than this?” I ask, my breath hitching when he reaches forward and touches my cheek.
“You.”
I try to smile, but I’m so nervous that it probably comes out looking weird. It doesn’t matter though, because one breath later, my smile is covered with Declan’s kiss. His lips are soft, but his arms are strong as they wrap around me.
