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dream, but it made me feel a bit better when I was busting my
ass to try and clean a stubborn scuff mark off of the floor.

 
    I was pretty thankful that Marie had finally lightened up on me
somewhat. At least she wasn’t barking orders anymore, and I finally got to meet
her husband, Alain. He was the sweet to her sour it seemed. When the two of
them were together you could still see the love they had for each other…

 
    Alan let me tag along with him for a couple of days, which was almost
like a vacation in comparison to his wife and her duties. He was a very chatty
old man, telling me stories about his childhood spent playing along the banks
of the Rhine River. I knew nothing about fishing, but I was very interested in
hearing what he had to say about it. I could see why Marie loved him so; he was
utterly charming, and always smiling and winking at you as if he was sharing a
secret. Heck, for a seventy-something-year-old man, he was very handsome too. I
bet he was a real looker when he was younger.

 
    I was helping him pull some of the weeds in the main garden when my
cell phone rang in my pocket. I blushed, not really wanting others know that I
had it with me at all times.

 
    “Go ahead and answer it, ma
chère .”

 
    I mouthed my apologies to him, flipping open the ancient phone to
answer it. “Hello?”

 
    “I do believe it’s time for a little break. I have a small surprise
for you in the kitchen,” Julien answered, taking me by surprise.

 
    I bit my lip, trying to hold back from smiling as widely as I wanted
to. Get a hold of yourself, woman!

 
    “Oh… Okay. I guess I’ll be on my way then.”

 
    “I’ll be here waiting.”

 
    I took in a deep breath, hanging up the phone and shoving back into my
pocket. Did that really just happen?

 
    “Alain? Mr. Malveaux just requested for me to meet him inside. I’m
gonna go ahead and take my break right now, if that’s okay.”

 
    He shrugged, gesturing for me to go on. “Go ahead. There will be
plenty more for when you come back,” he laughed.

 
    I looked around, realizing just how right he was. “Gardening sure is
hard work, isn’t it? It wasn’t something I ever had to do back in my old job.”

 
    He rocked back on his heels, also taking a good look around. “Yes.
Gardening is hard work. But good hard work. Good for the soul,” he replied,
putting his hand over his heart.

 
    “Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is.”

 
    When I made it to the kitchen, I was surprised to see Julien sitting
there at the table in a pair of nice jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. He looked
so… normal. Attractive, obviously, but like a hot guy on the street.

 
    He looked up at me and grinned. “There you are. I was wondering if
maybe you’d like to go have a walk around the gardens.”

 
    Disappointed, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I actually just came from
there. I was working with Alain on pulling the weeds.”

 
    Julien got up and walked over to Gervaise, who was hard at work
putting together some sort of meal, before shoving it all into what looked like
a picnic basket. I raised my brow.

 
    Julien picked up the basket, thanking Gervaise. He turned towards me
and held it up.

 
    “Yes, but I was talking about a different garden. Lunch to
go, perhaps?”

 
 

 
 
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    Chapter 10

 
 
 
 
    Well, this was highly unexpected.

 
    When Julien pulled out an key that opened a small wooden door along a
stone wall not too far from where I had been working I just couldn’t believe my
eyes. I felt like Mary, coming across her aunt’s secret garden.

 
    And on the other side of that door, was a very small garden that was
exploding with different colored wildflowers. It was similar to what had been
growing along the hillsides on our way to the château, but in a more
maintained, pristine way. I gasped, trying to let it all sink in.

 
    “So what do you think, Amira?”