Page 25 of A Secret In The Garden

Sowerby cleared his throat. Loudly.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think I’d ever felt so much in my whole life as I did in that ten-second hug. I didn’t want it to end.

It wasn’t the type of hug you gave someone you missed or hadn’t seen in a while—or the kind of hug you gave as a goodbye. It was the kind of hug that curled so tightly around your soul that it pressed the sharp edges back together again.

I knew I was supposed to talk now, to say something to break the silence, but my head was floating in the clouds.

Jasper himself seemed caught up in the same wonderment as me as we just watched one another in stupefied surprise.

“Eliza, please show me where you’d like me to start,” Sowerby said, cutting the silence. He walked past us, through the doors of the conservatory.

Becoming aware of my body again, I reluctantly pulled my eyes away from Jasper’s and followed Sowerby.

“Thanksgiving is next week. Will you be going home?” Jasper asked as he gently grabbed my arm, keeping me from walking away.

It felt like a swarm of bees filled my head when he touched me, like every logical thought simply melted away, replaced with warm, fuzzy feelings that I wanted more of. It was the oddest mix of sensations for someone like me. Touch always felt invasive, like a power move someone did to warn you or hurt you…but not this. I knew I’d only just experienced the very edge of this feeling, and like a drug, I couldn’t help but wonder how more of it would feel. Of all the people in the world to touch me and make me feel like this, I’d have never suspected the man who secretly terrified me to be the one to cause it.

“Sowerby always stays here for the holidays. If you’d like, he can continue working, so you don’t lose any progress while you are gone from the manor,” he added softly.

Thinking about going home and being ripped to shreds by my mother was enough of a javelin to shoot my chariot down from the clouds. I hadn’t even thought about the holidays. I didn’t want to go home, but if I didn’t, my mother would definitely show up here and cause a horrible scene that would no doubt get me fired from this job. I could go to my apartment, but what was the point? And she would find me there anyway; there was no escaping her unless I moved out of the country, like my sister, who even at those lengths wasn’t free from our narcissistic mother.

“No, I will be staying here…if that’s all right?” I finally said after a moment of thought.

“Of course. Chef Katya stays as well. She gets really into the themed holiday cooking, so you will be well fed,” he added with a small smile that lit his face and made his brown eyes glitter.

“Eliza! Do you wish to keep the periwinkle or eradicate the plant entirely?” Sowerby shouted impatiently from inside the garden.

“I’d better go in there,” I said gently, still not wanting to pop the compassionate bubble Jasper and I seemed to be inside of.

He nodded with a hint of regret in his eyes. “Look at the pond, and if you need anything adjusted, let me know. I should go change before my meeting. They will be arriving anytime now.”

I gave a nod, and we both turned in opposite directions.

“I want to see you at dinner tonight,” he stated at the last minute, just before the conservatory’s glass door was almost closed.

I pushed it open again and let my eyes roam over his shirtless chest. “A business dinner?” I scrunched my face. “Three out of four of the outfits I brought here are overalls. No thanks. Besides, I don’t really have time to not be in there,” I said, tipping my head behind me.

His face hardened, losing any friendliness. “I wasn’t really asking, Eliza.” A cocky smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “It will be exponentially more bearable if you’re there, and you have to eat anyway, so you may as well join me—us.”

Something in my stomach flip-flopped. I really was doing a terrible job of staying away from him, I suddenly realized. It was much, much easier when his shirt had been on. The invitation hadn’t really sounded like I had too much of an option for refusal anyway.

How my body could be both terrified of the man and want him so badly was incomprehensible. There was something in the way his eyes roamed over me that made me tremble with fear and excitement. Maybe he wasn’t as horrible of a man as everyone thought? Or worse, maybe he was, and I was being lured into his web of manipulation just like he wanted.

The truth was more time with him sounded intriguing and would give me a chance to investigate things with the ghost in the red dress a little more—ask him some questions. But I wasn’t going to embarrass myself or him by showing up looking like a complete mess.

He must’ve picked up on my hesitation, because he said, “Katya or Leah can pick you up something. They’re still in town. Leah knows your size from doing your laundry,” he said with hope in his voice.

I knew this was wrong. I knew deep down I should say no and stay away from him—at least until I figured out if he actually was a murdering liar. He wasn’t inviting his other staff to dinner, just me, and stupidly, I couldn’t help wanting to go. If I got closer to him, it would be easier to figure out what was really going on with the locket and the ghost…at least that’s what I told myself, but secretly I knew I was playing a dangerous game. He was devastatingly handsome and powerful, and like a moth, I couldn’t seem to stop from being lured into the fire.

“Okay,” I agreed, though deep down, I knew I never really had any options.

His eyes danced with mischief. “Great. Feel free to bring as many wild pigeons to this dinner as you like. Keep them on their toes,” he said with a wink before turning the corner and disappearing.

So that was that.

I was having dinner with Jasper tonight.

Chapter 12