Shortly after lunch, Lorna's phone buzzed with a message.
Michael:
Not a date. Just a stroll. The Rosewood Conservatory Gardens—do you recall? At four, will you meet me there?
Her heart paused for a moment as she gazed at the message. The gardens. It was their first date. A peaceful nook beneath the jacarandas. Since then, she had not returned.
Her response was deliberate and slow.
Lorna: I recall. I'll be there.
The silent enchantment of the Rosewood Conservatory persisted. Time had once stopped for two people who had no idea what they were entering in that same garden. A starting point.
Michael, dressed in dark jeans and a slate-gray shirt, stood close to the entrance path with his hands in his pockets. As she came closer, he turned and smiled hesitantly.
"You arrived," he remarked.
"You asked," she said in a warm, low voice.
As the stone path wound through fragrant lavender, jasmine, and the tiniest hint of mint from the herb patches, they fell into step. The late afternoon shadows were playing on the ground like memories, and the air was cool.
They remained silent for a while.
The silence was then broken by Michael. "After we broke up, I used to come here. simply to recall how things were before they became complicated.
Lorna gave him a quick look. When we first arrived, I was afraid of this place. Back then, I had no idea how to be more than your therapist. However, you made me laugh that day.
He grinned. "In a "guarded, uptight, emotionally repressed kind of way," you described me as charming.
She chuckled softly. "Remains true."
As they passed the koi pond, kids were now throwing crumbs into the water. Lorna stopped by a bench beneath their tree, the jacaranda.
As her fingers brushed the weathered wood, she remarked, "This is where you first reached for my hand." "You were trembling."
"I was scared," he acknowledged. "I was afraid I was destroying everything, but I was more afraid not to try."
She took a seat. He trailed behind.
The only sound in the quiet air around them was the gentle rustle of trees.
"Do you feel bad about it?" She enquired. "Us?"
Michael cast his gaze downward. "Never. I'm sorry I hurt you. as well as losing Jason's childhood. However, you? He looked in her direction. "You were the only one who recognized me before I did."
Lorna's chest constricted as she gazed at the floor. "No one has ever hurt me as much as you have. However, you also taught me the value of having strong emotions. To love with ferocity.
They sat in silence as a real, if incomplete, peace settled between them.
Michael declared, "I'm not asking for anything." "Not just yet. I just wanted to let you know that I've changed. that I'm still developing into the man you thought I could be."
Lorna took a while to respond. Rather, she extended her arm slowly and allowed her fingers to meet his—firm, familiar, and slightly shaky.
"I never lost faith in you," she muttered. "The first thing I needed to do was to believe in myself."
Uncertain of what the future would bring, they sat beneath the same tree where their love had subtly started, at last prepared to move one step closer to it.