"What made you realize how you felt?" I asked, glancing at him and lowering my lashes, suddenly feeling shy.
He smiled. "Charlotte helped me realize. She encouraged me to take a leap of faith—to let go."
"Ah. It's good advice."
"And you? Did you know before tonight?"
"I think I've known for quite some time now."
"You have?" The delighted look on his face said it all.
We stopped next to the entrance to the maze and I turned toward him, grasping his hands in mine.
"Here we are," I said softly, nodding my head toward the maze.
"Yes," he said, his eyes flickering away from the maze and back to me. "Here we are."
He moved closer to me, pulling me into his arms and whispering against my lips. "You bring me peace, little witch, and you put a fire in my blood." I smiled against his mouth.
"But do you trust me?" I asked, placing my palm flat against his jacket, running my hand over his chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart beneath.
"Trust you?" A crease formed between his dark brows.
I ducked under his arm and he spun to face me. "Come find me, Grayson," I said and I ran into the maze.
"Kira," he called, a low edge to his voice, "what are you up to now?"
"Helping you let go of something," I said, turning a corner and then quickly turning another. I heard Grayson behind me, walking slowly as I ran. "If you can find me, I'm yours."
"Kira," he said, and despite the distance, I heard the warning tone, "I know this maze well—there's no hiding from me here."
Ah yes, but I knew that.
A thrill went down my spine as I turned another corner. "Really, dragon?" I called. "We'll see. I'm waiting." I was already hopelessly lost, simultaneously feeling a small thread of fear and sympathy for what Grayson must have felt being alone in here all those years ago, but also the tingle of excitement at the knowledge that he'd find me. The shrubbery was tall and untended, and as I ran by, holding the hoops of my skirt as close to my body as possible, my long dress trailing on the ground behind me, branches seemed to reach out and grab me. The moon and stars, and the glow of the house beyond, cast the only light.
He didn't say another word, but I heard him walking with purpose through the weeds and fallen branches, straight toward me as if he'd known where I would run. I turned one more corner and there in what seemed the middle of the maze was an old fountain in ruin and disrepair. Seeing a stone bench, I sat down and waited for Grayson to find me.
The distant strains of music and voices from the party took a backseat in my mind as I listened intently for his footsteps, my pulse quickening, my heart thumping.
"Where are you, little witch?" he asked, much closer now. But it didn't sound as if there was question in his voice. Yes, he knew exactly where I was. My heart rate increased.
He turned the corner at the far end of where I sat, and my breath stuttered in my throat. In the glow of the starlight, I could see his gaze was trained on me. I stood slowly and as he started to walk toward me, I held up my hand, motioning for him to stop so I could come to him. Because I suddenly understood that sometimes it's right to meet in the middle, but sometimes, the simplest act of grace is to meet the other person where they are. That, that is love. He watched as I approached, his eyes dark and fathomless.
As I drew nearer to him, it came to me that watching Grayson in front of the bank that day, I had fallen in love, but only in some romantic, girlish way. I had fallen in love with the idea of him. But here, in the deep, dark of the maze—where he had once been lost and frightened and alone—I reached out my hand, and I fell in love with the man. I fell in love with my husband.
His hand in mine was solid and warm and real. And he grasped me back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Grayson
The party was winding down as I made the rounds as fast as possible, stopping to chat quickly or saying goodnight to those leaving. When I spotted Charlotte chatting animatedly with José's family, I smiled and nodded at them, then asked if I could borrow Charlotte for a moment. When she stepped aside, I said, "Sorry, Charlotte, I'm retiring for the night. Will you encourage the guests to stay and enjoy the music and the food? If they ask, make Kira's and my excuses?" My wife is waiting upstairs in our bedroom.
"Excuses? Are you sure? There's still—"
"Yes, Charlotte, very sure." I winked at her and strode away before she could say anything else. I made it past a few guests who were deeply engaged in conversation and turned the corner to the stairs. I took them two at a time. It might have even been three.