Kaladin smiled and watched her, letting her go where she wanted. "Apparently his wife had planted those roses shortly before she died. No one knows about this place but the family, so now it's just Seamus and me."

Hazel looked around for a little while longer before going back to Kaladin. Gently, she kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she said softly.

Kaladin smiled. "I'm glad you like it here," he said quietly. "This place has a lot of memories for me."

"I hope I'm not intruding on them," Hazel said softly.

"Not at all. I'd like to have more here." Kaladin smiled at her, moving over to her slowly.

Hazel blushed slightly and smiled back, although she didn't step back when he moved closer.

Kaladin leaned down and kissed her gently, taking his time in case she didn't want to. But she hadn't moved away, which was always a good sign.

Hazel hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously returned the kiss. Gradually, she got a bit more confident in her kissing.

Kaladin had no problems spending the time necessary to get her used to kissing and let her get more comfortable with it. In fact, he would have been quite happy to do that for the rest of the afternoon.

Hazel didn't mind at all letting Kaladin 'educate' her in kissing. She broke the kisses a few times to breathe, but always went back.

Kaladin finally pulled back a while later, panting a little and grinning at her.

"So. Feel more comfortable with that yet?"

"A bit," Hazel said, a little breathlessly. She grinned a bit. "I might need more practice, though."

Kaladin laughed quietly. "You think so?" he asked with a grin. "I think you're getting pretty good at this."

"I think I might," Hazel replied, smiling a bit and taking his hand again.

Kaladin smiled and tugged her close again, kissing her lightly.

"As much as I don't want to, we should probably get back to the ranch before it gets dark."

Hazel returned the kiss, and then reluctantly nodded.

"You're right," she said. "We should get back."

Kaladin nodded and led the way back through the garden to the carriage, letting her in first.

"You know, we're going to have a bunch of baby animals in a few more weeks," he said, looking at her.

Hazel nodded.

"I know," she replied. "I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do with them all. The expected number is almost twice what the ranch has seen in the last few years."

Kaladin grinned briefly. "Well, until we figure out where they're all going, they'll be at the ranch. You planning on going to visit any of them?"

"Possibly," Hazel replied uncertainly. "Once I'm sure I won't be in the way at all."

"Don't look so nervous. It's not like anyone's going to bite you or something." Kaladin smiled reassuringly. "Besides, just think, we'll have little baby winged snakes soon."

"Don't forget," Hazel said, "I didn't grow up around animals. I wasn't even allowed a pet until I reached the age of majority. It was... unladylike to show an interest in such things."

Kaladin was quiet for a moment. "That's true," he admitted. "But now you own the ranch. And unladylike or not, most people will expect you to at least be comfortable being in the vicinity of your animals." He shrugged. "Just a thought. Besides, I thought most women liked small creatures."

"Lyra is a small creature," Hazel replied. "And as such, she's my pet." She looked a little embarrassed. "I'm not really used to being around anything else, most of what we have on the ranch is big enough to be a legitimate danger." She was alright with the snakes, usually, but she refused to go near any of the ones bigger than a foot or two.

Kaladin nodded. Yeah, that did make sense. A lot of the animals required some getting used to, even if you had been raised around them.

"Well, we'll see if we can't introduce you to some of the little ones, then."