The greenhouse felt different the next day.
Franklyn found himself drawn there again, though he didn’t have a reason. The sun streamed through the glass panes, catching on the condensation and scattering light across the leaves. It smelled of soil and water and something faintly sweet, but the air clung heavy, as though it remembered what had been said the day before.
He hadn’t expected to find her there again. And yet, there she was.
Eliana crouched by a row of orchids, gently trimming a stem. She wore a simple cotton dress, her hair pinned back, but her presence still stole the breath from his lungs. For a moment he considered turning away before she noticed him. That would be the wise thing. The safe thing.
But he stayed.
Her voice reached him without her looking up. “You come here
