Free The Edge of Recall by Kristen Heitzmann

and brushed the dirt away with her hands.
    “There’s something there.”
    He removed another chunk of sod, and another.
    “Be careful of the stone walls.” She shoved dirt off a discolored metal rod. “Here,” she said. “Dig here.” Off to the side of the path.
    He obliged, and she cleared a metal curve and leaf. She looked up. “The gate?”
    “Could be.” He was not much for old things but had to admit this intrigued him, especially seeing how Tessa lit up.
    She took back the spade and dug vigorously. When she appeared to tire, he took over, carefully removing the turf from the gate as she kept clearing the dirt. In a little more than half an hour, they lifted it from the ground where it had lain for possibly three hundred years. Tessa was breathless as she ran her hands over the vines and leaves.
    “This pax symbol in the middle means peace . The labyrinth would have been used in that pursuit.”
    “Too bad it didn’t work.”
    “Smith, this is—” She shook her head, speechless.
    He pulled a smile. “Shall I consider myself thanked?”
    She dragged out a grudging “Yes,” but couldn’t hide the excitement as she gripped an edge of the gate. “Can you help me move it onto the turf?”
    They laid it flat and examined the design and condition. Six feet by three, he estimated, with a keyed lock.
    Tessa brushed the surface with her hand. “I think it’s bronze, oxidized, but it might still be saved.”
    “Think you’ll use it?”
    “If I could figure out why it was there in the first place. I’ve never seen a gated labyrinth. I was hoping the historical society might have something about the monastery, but so far I haven’t found much.”
    “The college has archeological and historical information. They’re currently rebuilding historic St. Mary’s City. You might try there, but remember, Tess, you can’t say anything about what we’re doing. Not even to get information.”
    “It can’t hurt to ask around.”
    He wasn’t so sure. “Don’t pique anyone’s curiosity.”
    “I know how to be discreet, Smith. Better than some people I know.”
    “Meaning me, I suppose?”
    “I didn’t mean anything.”
    “I’m quite sure you did. You’ve been sinking those tiny barbs since you got here.” He frowned. “What is it you think I betrayed?”
    “Besides me?”
    “You? How?”
    “Never mind.” She focused her attention on the gate. “Don’t you have something to do?”
    “I have loads to do, but I’m not leaving that statement—”
    “Forget it, Smith.” She rubbed furiously at the dirt caked on the leaves of the gate.
    “Right.” He wouldn’t even try to parse her comment. If she thought he’d been anything but circumspect in their prior interaction . . . All right, he had told their classmates what he thought of her defection. And what he thought of her new plan. He sighed. She might have a point, but wasn’t there a statute of limitations?
    The last thing he needed was drama, when this opportunity could open doors to people and places he might otherwise bang on his entire career and never gain entrance. He’d have to trust Tessa to uphold the non-disclosure. Gaston was near maniacal on that. She might not like it—or him—but she’d better not violate the agreement just to pay back some real or imagined slight of years ago.
    Gaston was not a man to cross. He would slap a lawsuit on them so fast. Couldn’t she simply plant the labyrinth?

    He blinked in the shadows that were not enough, squinting into the overcast light at her working in the field. He should be sleeping, but he couldn’t resist looking. One more look at her on her knees, brushing the ground with her hands.
    He could almost feel her hands. Stroking. How long since a person’s hands had touched him? Humming softly, he slid his fingers down his arms, over his tender skin. In just the way she brushed the dirt. How easy it would be to creep up, creep up and see if she was soft, as soft as she