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“Of course. Where do you want to go?”
“The gardens,” he says easily, as though he decided long ago.
“Isn’t it too cold for that?” I ask.
Harrison only shakes his head and grins.
“Come on, Adalee,” he laughs. “Be brave with me.”
“Fine,” I laugh. I don’t even need to be convinced. I can’t wait to spend more time with Harrison. Anytime I get to spend touching or playing with him...well, that’s fine with me.
He kisses me again and then we part ways. Unfortunately, I know that this meeting with Frank has to happen or...
Well, it just has to happen.
It’s inevitable, really, so I might as well suck it up and just go. I head back downstairs. I make my way out of the closet and bedroom and head toward Frank’s office. As I walk, I look at the pictures on the walls and the paintings of people from long ago. All of the people in these paintings and pictures seem to know exactly what they want from life.
This just leaves me wondering why I don’t.
Why don’t I know what I want?
Why don’t I understand what I need?
When I finally get to Frank’s office, I hesitate for far too long outside of his door. I lift my hand to knock, but just before I bring my fist to the wood, Margaret appears.
“Miss Adalee,” she says. “He’s not here.”
“What?” I turn to the housekeeper, surprised. She looks...relieved, almost. Of course, she does. If anyone knows what Frank is like and what he gets up to, it’s Margaret. If anyone understands exactly how he is, it’s her. She’s worked for him for years, and he’s always treated her poorly. Part of me wonders why she still stays with him, but I think it’s pretty clear.
She looks after me and Harrison.
She always has.
Staying here is the way she ensures that we’re both safe, and I can never fault her for that because honestly, it’s pretty damn wonderful that she cares so very much about us, especially when it seems like no one else in the world does.
“He’s not here today. He had to rush away. For business,” she adds, but we both know it was probably related to gambling or women or something entirely not business.
“Okay,” I say. I look back at the door. “I had a meeting with him.”
“He told me to tell you tomorrow morning,” she says.
“Tomorrow morning,” I repeat the words, letting her know I understand, but really, my heart feels like it’s freaking soaring.
An entire day without Frank?
An entire day to play and spend with Harrison?
An entire day to ourselves?
I don’t say anything else. I hug Margaret without a word, and then I just head straight to the gardens. My feet carry me without any prompting. In fact, I’m practically running by the time I get there.
The gardens at the O’Conner mansion are damn lovely. I’ve never been particularly interested in floral arrangements or shrubbery, but Harrison’s mom, Lily, was a huge fan of flowers. She went above and beyond in making sure that the grounds always looked perfect. Now, even though she’s gone, the grounds are still well-maintained.
I have a feeling that the household staff haven’t forgotten how sweet she was because if it were up to Frank, he’d probably bulldoze the entire backyard and add a business building or something hideous.
The entrance to the gardens is just as beautiful as the rest of the space. It’s this huge arch that’s covered with vines and bright pink flowers. There are rose bushes on either side, and I enter carefully, quietly, unwilling to disturb the carefully arranged plants that rest here.
When I was a kid, I used to come hide out here. If Frank and Lily were yelling at each other, this was my haven. I couldn’t stand to see them being hard on each other. Even though they weren’t my family, they were the closest thing to parents that I had. This was the place I could go where no one would disturb me.
