The music shifted without warning. The bright, lively tune that had filled the terrace softened into something slower. Conversations paused as couples gravitated toward the open marble space near the garden doors, drawn by instinct to closeness.
Emilia barely noticed.
She was still facing Liam, her back to the glow of lanternlight, her attention fixed entirely on him.
“You spend a lot of time in the forest,” Liam said quietly, as though they were already somewhere far from the noise. “But you never speak about what it gives you.”
She tilted her head. “Give me?”
His gaze didn’t waver. “Yes. Everyone talks about what the forest takes. Time. Safety. Direction. But it gives more than it takes if you let it.”
Emilia smiled faintly. “That’s not how most people describe it.”
“That’s becaus
