“All right. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Oh, honestly.”

He laughed, and I heard the crunch of gravel behind me as he followed me. “What is it you’re showing me?”

“A part of the garden you’ve never seen before. Did you not hear me?”

“Oh, you’re feisty when you don’t have to control yourself.”

“I’m always feisty. Aren’t you the one who pointed out that I have, and I quote, “Quite the temper?””

“That is likely to be one of the many things I’ve said about you, yes.”

I rolled my eyes and carried on, turning down a path towards the willow tree that largely obscured the entry to the secret garden. “Know where we are?”

“In the gardens of the Arrowwood Hall estate?”

“Smartarse,” I muttered.

He laughed but continued to follow me until we passed under the weeping branches of the willow and located a metal gate. “You know it’s blocked behind here, don’t you?”

“Like I said,” I replied, unclasping my bracelet. “A part of the garden you’ve never seen before.” I located the small key among the charms and, after opening the metal gate, inserted it into the tiny lock on the wooden gate behind it.

“What the—”

“Wait.” I heard the click, then removed the key and pushed open the gate, revealing my little slice of heaven.

“Holy shit, Gabriella.” Miles followed me through. “Has this been here the whole time?”

“No, I pulled it together yesterday. Aren’t I good?” I smirked at him. “It used to be an archway, but nobody ever used it, so I turned it into this.” I motioned at the small area before I put my bracelet back on.

Cypress trees lined one side, hiding it from the view of the farmland behind. The willow tree served as a fair barrier to the gardens, and the hedges on the other sides were more than adequate privacy.

A wildlife pond lived in the centre of the garden, and I sat on the edge of the pond to remove some leaves that had fallen in from somewhere. Hundreds, if not thousands of mature tadpoles wiggled through the water, and a sparrow landed on the opposite side to take a drink before whizzing off again.

Wildlife friendly plants and shrubs surrounded the area, but it was the wooden arbour with a climbing rose that was my favourite.

“Don’t you hate frogs?” Miles asked after a moment. “Why the wildlife pond?”

“Because the world needs to be kinder to wildlife, even if we don’t always like it,” I replied softly, looking into the water. “Actually, that was my mum’s idea.”

“Ah.”

“My mum helped me to start with, but then she was diagnosed with cancer and died. I knew I had to finish it.” I brushed a finger along the leaf of an aquatic plant I was fairly sure had spawned itself. “And despite my aversion to frogs, she loved them.”

Miles sat down next to me. “I really didn’t know this was here.”