fact that was obvious to her. On one level, Aksel just wanted to see her smile again. But on another, much more urgent level, he reckoned that Flora could be just as annoyed as she liked, if only it meant that she’d tell him what he was doing wrong. The first lesson he needed to learn was how to follow, rather than lead, and he walked beside her silently.
They reached the gravel driveway outside the clinic, and Flora stopped. ‘You think that Mette doesn’t know what it’s like to be an explorer?’
The warmth in her eyes had been replaced by fire. Aksel swallowed down the thought that he liked that fire, and concentrated on the point that Flora seemed about to make.
‘You’re going to tell me different, aren’t you?’
‘Just think about it. She can feel the gravel under her feet, and she can hear it scrunch. If she bends down, she can probably see it. She can feel the snow…’ Flora broke off, turning her face up towards the flakes that had started to drift down, and one landed on her cheek. Aksel resisted the temptation to brush it away with his finger, and it melted almost immediately.
‘But she can’t see any of this.’ He turned towards the mountains in the distance. He’d give his own sight if Mette could just appreciate the beauty of the world around her.
‘Exactly. That’s where you come in. She needs someone to explore with her, and tell her about the things she can’t see for herself.’
‘And if it’s upsetting for her?’
‘Then you respond to what she’s feeling and stop. Just as long as it’s Mette who’s upset by it, and not you.’
She had a point, and this was a challenge he couldn’t resist. Aksel’s head was beginning to buzz with ideas. ‘Maybe I could take a photograph of them. She might be able to hold that up close and see it.’
‘Now you’re thinking… Speak to Lyle and find out whether he thinks that might work for Mette.’ Flora seemed to know that she’d lit a fuse and she wasn’t taking cover. She wanted more from him.
‘Maybe she’d like to go this way.’ He started to walk towards the small, sheltered garden at the side of the property and found that Flora was no longer with him. She was standing still, her hands in her pockets, and one eyebrow raised slightly.
If that was the way she wanted to play it. Aksel returned to her side, holding out his arm. ‘I’m going to have to guide her there, of course.’
She nodded, slipping her hand into the crook of his elbow. A frisson of excitement accompanied the feel of her falling into step beside him, and Aksel turned his mind to describing the things around them. The darkening bulk of the stone built castle. The sky, still red from the setting sun, and the clouds off to the east, which promised more snow for tonight.
She slipped so easily into a child-like wonder at the things around her. Aksel was considering asking Flora if she might accompany him and Mette when they set out on their own voyage of exploration, but he guessed what her answer might be.
No. You have to do it yourself.
‘Careful…!’ He’d seen her reach for a rose bush to one side of the path, and Aksel automatically caught her hand, pulling it away. ‘It has thorns.’
Something that had been simmering deep beneath the surface began to swell, almost engulfing him. The thought of rose petals, wet with summer rain and vainly attempting to rival the softness of Flora’s cheeks, made him shiver.
‘All roses do.’ She turned her gaze onto him, and Aksel saw a sudden sadness, quickly hidden. ‘Will you let Mette miss the rose because of its thorns?’
That was a hard thought to contemplate. Aksel guided her hand, so that her fingers could brush the leaves. ‘You must be gentle. In the summer, the rose is the softest of blooms, but the thorns will still hurt you.’
He let her fingers explore the leaves and then the stem, touching the thorns carefully. It seemed to him that the thorns of this world had done Flora some damage, but that she still chose to see roses. She had room in her heart for both Mette and for Dougal, and yet she lived alone. He wanted to ask why, but he didn’t dare.
Flora looked up at him suddenly. ‘What’s next for us to explore, then?’
A whole spectrum of senses and experiences, none of which involved asking personal questions. Aksel took her to the trunk of an old tree, which twisted against the castle wall, and she followed the rough curves of its bark with her fingers. He explained the eerie wail of a fox, drifting towards them from somewhere beyond his own range of vision. The temptation to draw her closer, and let his body shelter her against the wind, hammered against him.
‘I can hear water…’ Flora seemed intent on playing this game out.
‘Over here.’ A small stream trickled past the flower beds, curving its way out into the surrounding countryside. Flora’s excitement seemed real, and he wondered whether she was play-acting or not.
‘I don’t think I can get across…’ Mette wouldn’t be able to jump to the other side, so neither could Flora.
The temptation was just too great. He could justify it by saying that this was what he would have done with Mette, or he could just give in to it and enjoy. Right now, the urge to just enjoy was thundering in his veins.
‘I could carry you.’ He called her bluff, wondering who’d be the first to blink.
‘You’re sure you won’t drop me?’
He was about to tell her that he’d carried heavier weights, over much more difficult terrain, and then he realised that Flora was looking him up and down. This was a challenge that he couldn’t back off from.
‘Let’s find out.’ He wound his arm around her back, waiting for her to respond, and Flora linked her hands behind his neck. Then he picked her up in his arms.
Stepping across the narrow stream was nothing. Having her close was everything, a dizzying, heady sensation that made Aksel forget about anything else. Her scent invaded his senses and all he wanted to do was hold Flora for as long as she’d allow it.
He wondered if she could feel the resonance of his heart pounding against his ribs. Feeling her arms tighten around him, he looked into her face and suddenly he was lost. Her gaze met his, seeming to understand everything, all of his hope and fears and his many, many uncertainties. He might be struggling to keep his head above water, but she was the rock that he clung to.
None of that mattered. Her eyes were dark in the twilight, her lips slightly parted. The only thing that Aksel could think about was how her kiss might taste.
He resisted. It seemed that Flora was too. This was all wrong, but he couldn’t make a move to stop it.
‘Are you going to put me down now?’ She murmured the words, still holding him tight in the spell of her gaze. Aksel moved automatically, setting her back on her feet, and for a moment he saw disappointment in her eyes. Then she smiled.
‘Where shall we go next?’
Their voyage of exploration wasn’t over. And Aksel had discovered one, basic truth. That he must navigate carefully between the dangerous waters of Flora’s eyes, and the absolute need to do his best
