Page 70 of Beyond the Hedge Maze

“Well, I saw you run in and tried to keep up, then got lost, naturally. But I, uh, kind of cheated.” Jesse kicked the gravel around his feet. “I took a picture of the model in the study the other day, and I used it to find you.”

Oliver stood, taking two large steps until he was close enough to throw his arms around Jesse. He buried his face into Jesse’s neck, mumbling against his skin. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry.” Jesse’s arms quickly weaved around Oliver. One around his waist and the other hand supporting the back of Oliver’s neck. “I went about everything all wrong.”

“You were just trying to help, and I need it. You were right. I was being an arsehole. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.” A hard kiss was pressed to the side of Oliver’s head, and he melted further into Jesse’s embrace. “I love you. Please tell me I didn’t fuck it all up.”

“Never. I love you, too, Oliver. So fucking much.”

Suddenly, Jesse’s lips were pressed against his, and Oliver immediately opened up to him. The kiss was a promise for the future. It was a commitment to each other and the life they could make together.

Oliver pulled back, and Jesse set his glasses to rights. “What happens when you have to go back to London? I’m going to miss not having you here every day.” Oliver was confident they’d be able to work things out, and he knew Jesse would be there to support him in whatever way he could. But the thought of Jesse leaving when he was finally ready to get his life together was a hard pill to swallow.

Oliver stared into Jesse’s hazel eyes. With the hedges surrounding them, he could see the flecks of green in them, shades of autumn. He wanted to get back to the conservatory and get the color down on the canvas.

Jesse bent and kissed each cheek, each spot where a dimple would be, and smiled at him. “What happens if I stay here instead?”

Chapter 28

Oliver

Present

Under the small table in the kitchen, Oliver gripped Jesse’s hand like a lifeline as Luis Alvarez looked over Jesse and Charlotte’s proposal.

Rose and Cillian were cooking, the smell of an Irish curry permeating the air, and Oliver wished he was helping them instead. He would rather keep his hands busy and work out some of the restless energy that had settled in his body throughout the day. Instead, he was sweating through his shirt, and Jesse didn’t look like he was doing any better.

He felt like he had lived a hundred lives in one single day.

Oliver turned to his boyfriend, the new title making him feel like a giddy teenager again, and let go of Jesse’s hand to tuck a loose strand of dark hair behind Jesse’s ear. Jesse gave him a soft smile, but there was tension radiating off of him in waves as his father studied the computer screen.

To the left of the computer, Luis periodically jotted down quick notes, his handwriting small and cramped so Oliver couldn’t make out what he was writing.

“Charlotte?” Luis asked. “Are you there?” Jesse’s phone sat in the center of the table with Charlotte on speaker phone from London.

“I am,” she replied.

Luis lifted his head and looked at his son. “This is a good plan the two of you put together. It’s similar in a lot of ways to the one I had been drafting for the late Lord Catesby.”

Jesse visibly relaxed hearing his father’s praise and pressed a kiss to Oliver’s temple. “Thanks, Dad.”

Luis addressed Oliver next. “Ben was strongly considering a lot of these items, as well. The only thing he truly wanted to avoid was renting out any of the rooms. He was fine with daytime visitors, but he preferred not to have overnight guests.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Oliver said as Jesse took his hand again and gave it a squeeze. “I feel the same.”

“If I may chime in,” Charlotte said from the phone. “I did some more research on the history of the estate. The hedge maze that sits on the property is one of the oldest and largest in England. We should emphasize that fact to draw in more people.”

“I didn’t know that. Did you?” Jesse asked Oliver.

Oliver shook his head. He had always assumed that the maze was another pet project of another overzealous ancestor. He didn’t know it held any sort of noteworthiness other than his love for it.

“Not only that,” Charlotte added, her voice ticked up in pitch, her words rushed in excitement, “but before I left for London, I stole a significant amount of records from your grandfather’s study to make sure there was nothing I was missing. Sorry about that. I promise it will all be returned.”

Jesse winced. “Charlotte, please.”

Oliver laughed. At least someone got an ounce of enjoyment from the endless records the former Lords had kept regarding the estate. He had found most of the entries boring, mundane accounts from a former time and without solutions to his modern problems.

She continued, unbothered. “There’s a lot of fascinating information about the Catesbys. Anyway, included was a diary entry and an invoice for the centerpiece of the maze. And we’ll need to get an expert to confirm, of course...” Charlotte paused for dramatic effect, but it was wasted on the group gathered around the table. “I believe the statues surrounding the fountain were sculpted by Anne Seymour Damer! Oliver, all that time was spent inside the house, when the most valuable thing you own has been in the maze the entire time!”