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It was only when they reached the palace gates that she realized she was holding his hand. She assured herself that it was just a natural instinct and the action had no deeper meaning. After all, he’d made his feelings for her known. Rather, that should be, he had made his lack of feelings for her known.
She quickly let go and pretended as though their connection had no effect over her. Just stay focused on the note and the sundial.
Annabelle led them straight to the gardens and suddenly it all looked the same. Sure, each geometrically-shaped garden had a different flower. But then she recalled the ivy. That’s what she had to search for. They walked all through the gardens. Each path was explored. No turn was left unexplored.
“I don’t understand it,” Annabelle said. “I know there was ivy here at one point.”
“Don’t worry about the ivy. Try to remember if the ivy was near a wall. Or was it out in the open? Was there a statue nearby? I noticed there are quite a few scattered throughout the garden.”
She closed her eyes and tried to pull the memory into focus. It had been a lot of years ago and she’d never suspected that she would need to know where to find the sundial.
“Maybe we should ask someone,” Grayson said.
Her eyes opened. “No way. We’re so close. And I don’t need my uncle or father finding out what I’m up to.”
“But you’re a grown woman. What can they do to stop you?”
She smiled at his naivety. “You obviously have forgotten that my uncle is the king. If he says jump, people ask how high? And my father, he’s a duke. He’s the one who stuck my security detail on me. There’s a lot they can do to make my life miserable. I’d prefer to avoid as much of it as I can.”
“Okay. Point taken. But what are we going to do if you can’t remember where it is? Or worse, what are we going to do if it has been removed?”
“I highly doubt that it’s been removed. If you haven’t noticed, my uncle doesn’t like change.”
“It sounds like you two have a lot in common.”
She stopped walking and turned to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you stay here and let them influence your life instead of getting out on your own.”
“I left Halencia and my father’s home to come here. I can’t help that he sent his security with me.”
“But you didn’t go very far, did you? I mean how much different is your uncle’s home from your father’s? They both keep a close eye on you.”
She didn’t like what Grayson was implying. “That’s not fair.” And worse, his accusation had a ring of truth. “What do you want me to do? Abandon my family like you did?” There was a flinch of pain in his eyes. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No. You’re right. I did leave my family. Maybe they didn’t deserve the way I cut them out of my life. Maybe I should have tried harder.”
“And maybe you’re right. Maybe I took the easy way out by coming here.” Which went back to her thought of visiting the United States. “And once this mystery is unraveled and the South Shore Project is resolved, I just might surprise you and go on my own adventure.”
“What sort of adventure are we talking about?”
And then it came to her. “That’s it.”
“What’s it?”
“An adventure. It reminded me that we were role-playing. The sundial was on the helm of our ship.” She started walking.
“And...”
“And it was next to a wall that overlooked the sea.” She smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” He looked a bit confused. “Glad I could, uh, help.”
They made their way to the far end of the garden where there was a stone wall. They walked along it until they found the sundial.
“It’s here!” Annabelle was radiating with happiness.
They both rushed over to the historic sundial. It was made of some sort of metal that was tarnished and weathered. It was propped up on a rock. And just as Annabelle recalled, it overlooked the sea.
