was making up for something he didn’t get much of when he was a child.
When we finally reached the double glass-paneled doors that led outside, I raced up to them like a giddy schoolgirl, excited to show Tess what wowed me the most about the place. Although, I had seen the gardens the first time at night, and they were illuminated by thousands of different kinds of lights which made them look like a magical fairytale land. In the day, the gardens were equally captivating and beautiful, with a variety of different colors from all kinds of flowers and hedge work.
When Tess stepped onto the terrace and gazed out at the gardens, she immediately said, “Oh come on Norah, I mean…”
I cut her off. “Yes Tess, seriously!”
“Wow!” she exclaimed at the picturesque sight.
Yes, my sentiments exactly.
Our heads then turned to the delicious aroma that had grabbed our attention, and it wasn’t from the flowers but from the food on the outside dining area. Barrett and the other servants had laid out a selection of gourmet sandwiches, a jug of what looked like home-made lemonade, and a plate of different flavored macarons.
“Hmmm, that looks good.” Tess couldn’t peel her eyes away from the table.
I grabbed her hand. “Let’s go check out the lake first and then come back and have some lunch.”
We started our way down the garden’s stone staircase, and stepped onto the pathway in between the trees and hedges. “So are your parents cool with you just taking off to Europe like this?” I asked Tess as we made our way slowly along the path, admiring the garden’s beauty.
“Are you kidding? It was their idea. They both went to McLaren University too, actually most of their families went to McLaren, and many of them didn’t make it that far after they graduated. My parents ended up in Boston. My Dad’s an accountant, and my Mum’s in contract administration. All really boring hey. When they found out I got offered a job travelling Europe in advertising as head designer, they bought my airline ticket.”
Tess didn’t talk about her family much and suddenly getting all that background information told me that I should have asked her a lot sooner, but since we met, we didn’t go into much of each other’s past. We focused on the present. Tess knew about my Dad and had some knowledge of my upbringing, but she had no specifics. With that in mind, I had failed to ask her about her family too. I suppose it was because I was used to not asking people those kind of questions. I needed to change that about myself. Not everyone’s pasts were as haunted as mine.
“Really?” I asked, hoping she would give me even more information about her family.
“Yeah ,something about getting out, seeing the world. Making the most of my choices. Blah, blah, blah. You know how family can be.” Tess bit her tongue as she realized I didn’t know how a normal, regular family can be, considering mine had been vastly different to the norm.
I didn’t want Tess to feel bad, so I tried to be positive for her, although it didn’t come out that way. “They sound great Tess. Must be nice to have that kind of support.”
Tess noticed the sadness as I said it.
“Oh, yeah. I guess I’m pretty lucky to have parents like that, but believe me Norah, they can be overprotective too. Always warning me about everything and being super paranoid at times. They can be a real pain in my ass. Ugh!” Tess did her best to down-play her happy family for my benefit. I was thankful she tried to ease my sadness. Under that wild sarcasm, there was real thoughtfulness and compassion.
“Well, I’m going to miss you so much. You gotta make sure you get some time off and fly back to New York when you can.”
“Of course. You’re my best friend Norah.” She poked me in the ribs, our mood reigniting to fun and playful.
We headed through the gardens, stopping to admire some more of the hedge work and then we finally came to the mooring. I tilted my head, a bit shocked. The mooring was presently occupied by a boat. A schooner to be exact.
“Oh goody, he has a boat too.” Tess picked up pace as we got closer to the mooring, and closer to the schooner. This was the first time I had seen the boat. Clint had told me that his family had one, but that