Page 75 of Beyond the Hedge Maze

Like he knew he was being watched, Oliver lifted his head and peered over Rachel’s shoulder. He grinned, dimples popped deep into his cheeks, glasses slipping down his nose. He was wearing Jesse’s green Henley, the one from their first time together in the conservatory, and Jesse tried to purge all inappropriate thoughts from his head as he stood next to his best friend wearing only gym shorts.

He was so stupidly in love with him.

Oliver finished up with Rachel and Isaac, then jogged over to Jesse and Sean. When he reached the pair, he threw his arms around Jesse’s neck like he hadn’t seen him only a few hours prior. “You smell,” he said, even as he buried his nose into Jesse’s neck.

Jesse laughed and hugged him back, spinning him in a circle for good measure.

Setting Oliver down, he motioned to the paper clutched in his hand. “What’s that?”

“Oh.” He passed the drawing to Jesse. “Well, I remembered what you said about the corn mazes you used to go to as a kid, and how they’d have a map, so I decided to draw one up this morning. Michelle and I are going to go make copies and get them laminated. We also need to pick up some face paint for my booth.”

Jesse scanned Oliver’s drawing, a cartoon style rendering of the maze. Dead in the center stood the muses, their proportions to the rest of the map not exactly to scale, but full of lovely details only Oliver would have ever picked up on. He trailed his finger through the paper course, until it stopped on a flash of white, a single hydrangea drawn at a turn’s dead end.

He lifted his head and locked eyes with Oliver, and for a few slow seconds, it was just the two of them. No other distractions, only each other and their memories of their time together as kids.

“It looks great, cariño.” He handed the map back to Oliver, intentionally brushing his fingertips against Oliver’s wrist. It was taking everything in his power not to drag him back inside the house for a quick rendezvous.

In the distance Jesse saw Michelle, her hair a vibrant red. “Hey losers!” she shouted at them. “Olive, are you ready?”

“One second!” Oliver called back to her. “I promised Mi we’d get ice cream after our shop. She’s been talking about it for an hour, so I better go.”

With a quick parting kiss, Oliver jogged over to Michelle who quickly linked her arm with his, her free hand waving wildly as she talked.

At his side, Sean watched Oliver and Michelle with a skeptical look. “It freaks me out how quickly they hit it off. Doesn’t it freak you out?”

Jesse laughed and swung his arm around Sean’s neck, pulling him down to plant a sloppy kiss to the top of his sweaty head. “Don’t be jealous. Let’s get back to work before Rachel comes back.”

Their steps quickly fell into sync as they made their way back to the start of the maze to retrieve their hedge shears. The original Enter and Exit signs had been lovingly retired and replaced by new hand painted ones made by Oliver, and they could now navigate most of the maze without fear of being clipped by the overgrowth.

From the moment Jesse entered the maze, a calmness spread throughout his body. It had taken a full week of working within the confines of the maze day in and out for Jesse to be able to somewhat navigate it. Sean, to his absolute delight, continued to get lost, and Jesse smugly lorded it over his head every chance he got.

“He seemed in good spirits. Is he ready for tomorrow?” Sean asked.

A mediation meeting had finally been set between Mr. Stillwell and the elder Catesby solicitors, and was taking place tomorrow morning. Jesse’s father had been helping Mr. Stillwell draw up an agreement between Oliver and his parents regarding the future of the estate.

Jesse bristled at the thought of Oliver’s parents. “It’s been good for him to have all of this as a distraction. I just hope they agree to the terms. He’s ready to finally let them go and move on. It’s been a long time coming.”

When they had begun their work in the maze, they had started along the perimeter and had been steadily working their way inward towards the center and the muses. Their first call might have been to Rachel, but the second had been to a sculptor that Oliver knew from Oxford. Oliver had sent him several photos of the statues, and he had confirmed that while needing a proper clean, they appeared to have been sealed properly. So long as they continued to keep up with the maintenance, it would be fine to leave them where they were.

Oliver was still torn about keeping them, but the conversation had been tabled for now.

Newly cleaned, Jesse walked around the fountain to find Clio. As he often did when he stared at her, he thought of his mom. Oliver had talked about feeling Ben’s presence within the maze, and Jesse knew exactly how he felt staring up at the marble muse.

He wondered what she would think of this life he was pursuing with Oliver. He liked to think she’d be thrilled. Had she been alive, he hoped that she’d be right there with them, helping them, encouraging them. He knew without a doubt she would have loved Oliver. Of that, he didn’t question.

Sean had been doing his own appraisal of the statues before he came to join Jesse in front of Clio. “I’m happy for you, you know. Oliver is great. I always worried that you’d flounder around unhappily forever.”

Jesse smiled at his friend. “Forever is a little dramatic, no?”

“Shut up. You know what I’m trying to say.” After a brief pause, Sean continued, “How did you know Oliver was it for you?”

Jesse wanted to tread carefully. He thought of their dinner back in London and Michelle’s joke about him and Alex. “Is there someone special you want to talk to me about?”

“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll let you know.”

Jesse squeezed Sean’s bicep. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“Okay, I guess it’s back to work.” Sean pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What do you want to listen to? Top hits?”