Chapter 4

Chase led Elmont out to the back of the house. She pushed past a couple of trees and stopped. "Ta-da!" She said laughingly. Elmont gazed around. She had taken him to a garden that had to rival the king's garden itself. Everywhere were the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. They were all different colors, and shapes, and sizes. Chase bent and flicked a bug away from a tiger lily. "I made this garden when I first started the orphanage." She said, sitting down on a small bench. Elmont joined her. "When I first started, I only had five kids. I would freak out, I would get angry easily, and at the end of every day, I would come out here and cry, wondering why I did this." Chase inhaled, the let it all out deeply. "But then I got into a routine. The older kids would help out, and together we made it work." She smiled. "I've had the best times of my life right here, just talking with the older girls and boys." She sighed, then glanced over at Elmont. "Well, enough about me. What have you been doing with your life since we stopped hanging out?"

"Not much, actually. I became Captain of the Guard, and the Guardian of Princess Isabelle."

"Tell me about it." Chase leaned forward, her eyes bright. Elmont consented, telling her about palace life, about taking care of the princess, and of fighting in the War. They talked for hours, until they could barely see because the sun had set.

"Well, I had better be going." Elmont stood, and Chase followed him. On the way out, Elmont snapped a tiger lily off of a bush, and twirled it between his fingers as Chase walked him to the gate.

"It was really nice to see you again, Elmont." Chase said sincerely. "Be sure to drop by again some time."

"I will." They faced each other for a minute, not saying anything, but just being there. Elmont shyly reached over and slipped the flower in her hair. "You grew up a lot, Chase." He said softly. "You're not a little flower child anymore." Chase giggled quietly, and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"And you're not a boy with a blanket tied around his neck, determined to be a knight." She gently cupped his cheek in her palm, and he closed his eyes, committing the feel of her soft hand to memory. She let her hand drop, and cleared her throat. "Well, it's late. You should go, or you'll be very late tomorrow."

"Yes, you're right." Elmont stepped away from her. "Thanks for the tour." He said.

"No problem. Be sure to visit again, you hear me?"

"Of course." Elmont stood there for one minute more, then leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek. Her breath hitched, and she stared at him. "Good-bye, Chase." He said softly, then turned and walked down the road. Chase watched him, and then, as he went over the hill, she stroked the place his lips had rested. A smile touched her lips, and she turned around. She raised an eyebrow as a curtain whipped shut as she turned. She shook her head as she walked inside.

"Mark, Jasper, and Carrie." She called. "I told you to get ready for bed ages ago."

"We got ready for bed…" Mark said as he rose up from behind the couch with his brother and sister. "We just didn't get to bed."

"Did he kiss you, Miss Chase?" Jasper snickered.

"That would be none of your business, Jasper."

"Well, I think that you two would be very cute together." Carrie wrapped her arms around Chase's waist.

"Thank you for that advice, Carrie." Chase pried Carrie off and shooed them from the room. "Now to bed! All of you!"

"Good night, Miss Chase." The siblings said, and hurried off to do what she said.

Chase fell into her chair by the fireplace, and sighed. Elmont kissed me. She shook her head. He certainly has grown up a bit since I last saw him. He's much cuter…ugh! What am I saying? This is John Elmont, the boy I grew up with! The boy who got a stick so tangled in my hair I had to cut it out! The boy who put the biggest toad I have ever seen in my life in my bed! The boy who… was the kindest boy I ever met…the boy who stood up for me when those bullies in the square threatened me. The boy who… told me that he thought I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Chase shook her head again. When did life get so complicated?