I was silent for a while, thinking. Millie laughed at something Hanna said, and shoved her playfully. It was difficult to put words to my feelings.

“Some days, I want to…” I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“But you seem sad,” he murmured.

“I’m not. Just caught up in my own head.”

Deeper in the Gardens, a man broke out in song. Finn glanced backwards.

“El,” he stopped and cleared his throat. “Look, if you and Millie wanted to, uh … This isn’t the most comfortable topic for me. But if you feel…”

“Please stop.”

“Got it. Gladly.”

I laughed, and my melancholy retreated. Finn looked over his shoulder a second time. His eyes narrowed.

“Why do you keep doing that?” I asked.

He did not answer me immediately, but at the bend in the path, he paused.

“I think someone is following us,” he said.

“What?”

“It could be my imagination.” He nodded toward the stairs leading to the lower levels of the Gardens. “Check once we reach the steps.”

“It’s probably just someone heading the same way. Why would anyone follow us?”

“I don’t know.”

For some reason, I felt certain that Finn was lying to me. More than anything else, that made me uneasy. I had lace to spare, so there was little danger, especially in such a public place. And yet he was clearly nervous.

“A friend of yours?” I asked lightly.

He flinched. “No.”

Interesting. I filed away his reaction for later consideration. At the top of the stairs, I bent to retie the laces of my shoe and glanced back down the path.

It was the same man I had seen reading a book at the Iron Gate. He strolled toward us, hands buried in his pockets. There wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about him; he had medium brown skin and deep-set eyes, five or so years older than me. Easy to overlook in a crowd, indistinguishable from hundreds of other men in the city. Our eyes met.

To my surprise, he grinned and tipped his hat. I quickly turned away, as if he had caught me doing something wrong, and the man walked past the stairs and toward the Winter Gardens.

“That was weird.” Finn shrugged. “Sorry. I guess I was wrong.”

I wasn’t so sure. There had been a kind of camaraderie in the stranger’s grin, like we shared a secret, or played a hidden game. I know you see me, he seemed to say, but what are you going to do about it?

I straightened. “Can you tell Millie that I’ll catch up with her?”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I’m not sure. I just want to see where he’s going. Like you said, it’s probably nothing.”

“Yeah, well…” Finn’s frown deepened.

“What’s with you today?”

“Nothing.”

“Uh-huh.” I elbowed him. “Then stop worrying me. I won’t be long.”