Page 61 of A Lady’s Guide to Subterfuge and Science

“Very good,” he said, nodding at her. “We’re fishing for carp.”

They stood in silence for a moment as Kalila let her eyes wander over the chaotic terrain. “How did you find this place?”

Oliver’s jaw tightened, then relaxed. “My mother used to bring me here. She’d read under the trees while I roamed about.”

Another hush settled before Kalila’s curiosity got the better of her. “Have you spoken to her lately?”

“Not since she left for Kent,” Oliver said. “Twenty-three years ago.”

“Why?” The question was soft, and whispered more to herself than to him.

He shrugged. “She left me. What is there for me to say to her?”

“I don’t know,” Kalila murmured. “Would you say you’ve changed much since then?”

He laughed. “Since I was ten? I would say so, yes.”

“Then perhaps she has, as well.”

The smile that had lingered on his lips fell. “Perhaps.”

“There is a way for you to find out,” Kalila said, not wanting to overstep more than she already had. “If you want to, of course.”

Oliver hummed, but didn’t push back. “This is the first time I’ve returned since—since she last brought me.”

Something fluttered in Kalila’s chest at his words, at the sheer idea that he’d chosen her to bring to this sacred place. “It reminds me of home.”

Oliver brightened. “Oh?”

“Yes,” she said. “Overgrown. Wild. You know how the countryside is.”

“Be careful,” he teased. “I’ll soon be inviting myself for a visit.”

Kalila snorted. “You don’t need an invitation to visit Painswick.”

“I do if I want to see you.”

Kalila’s heart almost stopped. He couldn’t have meant for it to come out with such—such—

Such longing.

“Yes, whatever shall you do when you no longer have the opportunity to see me every day?”

“I don’t know,” he said, and this time, her heart did stop.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she admonished. “You’ll return to whatever it was you did before I came here.”

“I suppose I will. But only after I mourn the loss of a good friend.”

“I’m not dying,” Kalila said, even if a part of her did feel as though it might expire at any moment.

It’s time to face the facts, a voice in her head said. You very clearly have feelings for—

Her thoughts, blessedly, were interrupted by a sharp tug at her line.

“A fish!” she gasped. The line was tugged again, harder this time, and Kalila stumbled.

“Careful,” Oliver said, making to place his fishing pole on the ground. “Let me help you.”