The sun came out after lunch, tempting me to explore the gardens more fully. Saving the best for last, I turned my back on the maze and headed for the stone wall surrounding the grounds, intending to walk around the boundary.
Further away from the house, the land looked like pastureland, with some woodland. It was all neglected—or a wildlife haven, depending on your attitude.
After half an hour of walking, I realised there wasn’t much to see, so I turned into the wood and followed the path that led back towards the house.
I emerged into what had evidently at some point been formal gardens. There were three different areas set off by high hedges in dire need of cutting. One garden was filled with rose bushes that looked as if they were tended to, at least; the other two had been left to go to ruin. One of them contained a wooden house on a pole. It puzzled me until a white bird fluttered out of the opening, and I realised the house was a dovecote.
This place must have been amazing in its heyday, with minstrels playing lutes as they strolled around beautifully kept gardens, peacocks parading their tails and doves cooing gently. I crunched along the sparsely gravelled path back towards the house to grab a cup of tea before tackling the maze that was waiting for me. It would never get old, having to cross amoatto get to the house. I took some pictures and sent one to Jack.
Kind of feeling like Rapunzel here, I told him.
I’d just finished my tea when he replied.Think you’ll find that was a tower not a moat.
Damn know-it-all. I stood in the doorway, and zoomed in on the folly in the distance.You were saying?
Smartarse.
The only maze I’d been in was a kiddie one with knee-high hedges. Mum had merrily shepherded eighteen-year-old me off to explore it as if I were five. In the end, I’d got to the middle by climbing over the hedges. Perhaps I should have remembered that, because it turned out that I was bad at mazes.
Like, awesomely bad.
The sun was going down, and Istillhadn’t found the centre. Neither had I found my way out. Dark hedges towered over me. What had started out as fun had turned into dead-end after foreboding dead-end, and some of them IknewI’d been to before. I’d probably visited most of them multiple times because the maze couldn’t be as big as it felt.
HelpI texted Mia pathetically.
Maze?
That or an enchanted forest. Can’t tell any more. Think the hedges want to eat me.
Stay where you are. Help’s on the way.
I heaved a sigh and sat on the damp grass, trying not to feel an absolute idiot. I bet the Talbots knew this place by heart and supper tonight would be full of comments about how a-maze-ing the food was or how Tim had hit a dead-end with his garden while Mia was hedging her bets.
Suddenly annoyed, I got to my feet. I’d have one last go at this damn thing—it wasn’t going to defeat me. I turned left and found another dead end. Turned right again, and this time took the first right. And oh my God, there was an open area with a pond!
In the middle of the pond stood a stone statue of a dolphin that looked as if it once had water coming out of its mouth in a fountain. I took a picture for proof I’d made it. I didn’t know how to get out, but at least I hadn’t failed completely. Archer wouldn’t think I was a total loser.
I’m in the centre,I texted, and sat on the stone edging of the pond to wait for rescue.
It came not in the shape of Mia but a conquering hero in tight jeans and boots. Archer strode into the centre of the maze like he owned it—which, on reflection, he did—and I wanted nothing more than to cast myself onto his manly bosom and have him hold me while I sobbed out my relief at him for savingme. Maybe I’d internalised the Disney princess theme a little too much. Or maybe it was the memory of last night and how comfortinghis strong arms had been when my world was falling apart.
His face was stern, and he looked preoccupied, but when I stood up and grinned my relief at him, his eyes warmed.
“You did well reaching the centre,” he told me.
“Tell me about it. I still can’t work out how I didn’t trip over skeletons of the hundreds of other people who must have got lost in here.”
“We chuck the skeletons in the moat,” he said.
I laughed, not so much at his words as the way his eyes crinkled at the corners in humour. When he was being the head of the family, he did things to my dick, but when he was beingArcher,he did things to my heart.
“Archer,” I said, as he turned away to lead me out of the maze. He swung back, his expression suddenly cautious. “Thank you for last night. I don’t know how you knew what to do, but you made everything so much better. I put the candlesticks back this morning,” I told him, remembering Mia’s joke and the way I’d wanted to keep them.
“You can hold onto them longer if you need to,” he said, and my breath rushed out of me in unexpected relief.
“Are you okay?” He moved forward and cupped his hand to my cheek, looking deep into my eyes, searching for the truth.
I couldn’t even remember what he’d said. The only thing I was aware of was his large hand, radiating warmth, the contrast of rough calluses and softer skin igniting every nerve ending in my cheek. I turned my head and pressed a kiss into his palm.
