“Oh.” I pressed a hand to his shoulder, holding it there. “That sounds awful.”
“You can’t trust everyone you meet. People can deceive you. And some secrets shouldn’t be revealed.”
I removed my hand, digging my trowel into the soil to hide my reaction. Could I trusthim?Or was there a double meaning to his words that I would be wise to take to heart? He blamed himself for losing his mother, but surely no child could be held responsible for such a tragedy, even if he hadn’t opened up about the exact circumstances of her death.
Corvin yanked his weed out of the soil with extreme force, sprinkling us both with dirt.
He set down his trowel. “Oops. Sorry.”
“No problem,” I said, brushing the dirt off my tunic and continuing to weed.
I looked up to find Corvin watching me. “You have some dirt on your face.”
I wiped my face against my tunic, and he laughed. “Here, let me.”
He scootched closer to me, using a single thumb to gently brush the dirt off my cheek. I peered up at him, the soft touch of his thumb leaving a warm mark on my skin as my heart began to race in my chest. Corvin swallowed thickly, looking down at my face, before returning to his spot in the garden.
“Thank you,” I softly exhaled, my breath unsteady.
“What do you like to do for fun?” Corvin asked lightheartedly.
“Gardeningisfun,” I replied. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s also rewarding. How about you?”
“Lately? Whatever everybody tells me I should be doing.”
“Hmm, then perhaps I should apologize for putting you to work.”
He flashed me a grin. “I could be convinced to play instead.”
My heart hammered faster. “What did you have in mind?”
“I think we should take a break,” Corvin declared, tossing another weed aside. “And swim in the lake.”
A bead of sweat trickled down my brow. “A break? There’s still so much to do…”
Corvin stretched, and I realized my own body had grown stiff from kneeling in the dirt for so long. “No, you’re right. We should be done for the day. I don’t want to be the reason you strain your back.”
A small, suggestive smile danced around his mouth. “No, we wouldn’t want that.” A blush spread across my cheeks, and I did my best to ignore the desire blossoming through my body as heoffered me a hand, pulling me to a standing position. “What do you say? Should we wash away some of this dirt?”
I nodded. “Alright.”
We headed down toward the lakeshore. Typically, I would wash in the lake naked. That was certainly not my current plan. I glanced at Corvin, thinking about what it would be like if itweremy plan and he decided to join me, stripping off his clothes and jumping into the water right alongside me—
“I…I might just put my feet into the water instead,” I said, abruptly sitting down.
His gaze bore into mine. “I’ll join you,” he assented, taking a seat next to me at the water’s edge.
I curled my feet into the sand as we sat staring out at the lake, its waters lapping at the shore.Was it the tranquility of the lake making me feel so calm, or Corvin’s presence by my side?I relaxed, savoring the warmth of the beach.
“What’s next?” he asked me, swirling his feet into the water. “Now that you’ve lit your lampposts?”
“If I want to help people again, then I need to find a way to repopulate moonstones in the realm.”
“Repopulate?”
“Fiere the phoenix told me they’re hard to find these days.”
“You want to be like your predecessors then? You’re not scared of the responsibility? Of having people rely so heavily upon you? I just…I just think that would make me feel trapped. And yet here you are, relentlessly pursuing the opportunity.”
