Page 35 of The Scent of Happiness

“Who cares about the signs?” They could walk around with a checklist, identifying the plants by sight or smell, but what fun was that? People didn’t come to the botanical gardens to accomplish things, they came here to enjoy. Was Theo getting any pleasure out of this at all?

He frowned at the plaque. “I was a straight-A student. I’m an attorney. I don’t like coming to conclusions without doing the required reading. It feels like cheating.”

“Cheating at what?” Brooke spread her arms. “At enjoying life?”

Theo backed off a step, showing his palms. “I simply like to know where these answers came from. You can’t slide into the world making statements and expect other people to believe you. You have to show your work.”

Brooke put her hands on her hips. “Who do I have to show my work to? Let’s say that a plant got mislabeled somehow. Like two signs got reversed. You’d read a sign and swear to me that I was smelling basil when I know it’s dill. Who would be right?”

“You would,” Theo stated flatly. “But—”

“Is that cheating?” Brooke asked. “Not showing my work? Our senses tell us things. Our emotions tell us things. Intuition is important.”

“Yeah, but if I can’t see something, or touch something, how do I prove it to someone else?”

Brooke scoffed. “Who says you have to?”

“The whole world does,” Theo said. “Seeing is believing. We all say that.”

Brooke tapped a finger on her chin, pretending to mull over what he was saying. “You ever been to a magic show, Theo?”

“Uh huh.”

“When they’re fooling your eyes, using sleight-of-hand, you like it.”

“Wait, that’s—”

“How about those books of optical illusions we all had as kids? Those were fun, right? Oh! Do you remember those posters that looked like nothing until you blurred your eyes a little and then a three-dimensional image popped out? I think my mom still has one of those in her basement. It has angels on it.”

“That’s different.”

“Your other senses lie to you all the time. You know what won’t lie to you?” She pointed to her nose. “You have to trust it.”

Theo seemed to be biting the inside of his cheek, like he was trying not to laugh at her. “Let’s see how trustworthy your nose is. Close your eyes, I’ll take you somewhere else in the garden. You smell something and tell me what it is.”

“Challenge accepted,” Brooke said. “You think you can stump me?”

“Let’s find out.” Theo offered his arm. “Do you trust me to lead you?”

“You’re not going to steer me into a wall or anything are you?”

“Stand close. We’ll walk together.”

Brooke shifted her bag to her other shoulder, linked her arm in his, and closed her eyes. She took a shuffling step forward, not daring to lift her feet too high. She clutched Theo’s arm. “Go slow.”

“I will.” His arm was rock-solid under her hand. Now, standing this close, she got little bits of his fragrance—deep and manly. Was that why her knees felt wobbly? She turned her head away while clinging tighter to Theo, determined to keep her balance.

“I’m going to let go.” He stopped, dropped her arm, and rustled in the leaves. “What’s this?”

She caught a whiff of something floral. It was soft and sultry and she got it immediately. “This is a southern plant,” she said. “For some reason it makes me think of New Orleans, and jazz. Did you know that white flowers tend to smell stronger?”

“You knew it was white? You looked.”

“I didn’t. But I knew it was gardenia.” She opened her eyes.

Theo wrinkled his nose in suspicion as he checked the sign. He pointed to her glasses. “Can you see without those?”

“I only need them for far away things. I can see what’s right in front of my face without them. But if it will make you feel better, here.” She took off her glasses and put them in the pocket of her cardigan.