In the Garden Trilogy (21 page)

“I thought about design for a while. Not that good at it,” she said. “I realized I had a hard time adjusting my vision to blend with the team’s—or the client’s. And I’d get too hung up in the math and science of it, and bogged down when it came time to roll over into the art.”

“Who did your landscaping up north?”

“I did. If I had something in mind that took machines, or more muscle than Kevin and I could manage, I had a list.” She smiled. “A very detailed and specific list, with the design done on graph paper. Then I hovered. I’m a champion hoverer.”

“And nobody shoved you into a hole and buried you?”

“No. But then, I’m very personable and pleasant. Maybe, when the time comes and I find my own place, you could consult on the landscaping design.”

“I’m not personable and pleasant.”

“Already noted.”

“And isn’t it a leap for an obsessive, linear, detail freak to trust me to consult when you’ve only seen one of my jobs, and that in its early stages?”

“I object to the term ‘freak.’ I prefer ‘devotee.’ And it happens I’ve seen several of your jobs, complete. I got some of the addresses out of the files and drove around. It’s what I do,” she said when he braked at a Stop sign and stared at her. “I’ve spent some time watching Harper work, and Roz, as well as the employees. I made it a point to take a look at some of your completed jobs. I like your work.”

“And if you hadn’t?”

“If I hadn’t, I’d have said nothing. It’s Roz’s business, and
she
obviously likes your work. But I’d have done some quiet research on other designers, put a file together and presented it to her. That’s my job.”

“And here I thought your job was to manage the nursery and annoy me with forms.”

“It is. Part of that management is to make sure that all employees and subcontractors, suppliers and equipment are not only suitable for In the Garden but the best Roz can afford. You’re pricey,” she added, “but your work justifies it.”

When he only continued to frown, she poked a finger into his arm. “And men don’t usually sulk when a woman compliments their work.”

“Huh. Men never sulk, they brood.”

But she had a point. Still, it occurred to him that she knew a great deal about him—personal matters. How much he made, for instance. When he asked himself how he felt about that, the answer was, Not entirely comfortable.

“My work, my salary, my prices are between me and Roz.”

“Not anymore,” she said cheerfully. “She has the last word, no question, but I’m there to manage. I’m saying that, in my opinion, Roz showed foresight and solid business sense in bringing you into her business. She pays you very well because you’re worth it. Any reason you can’t take that as a compliment and skip the brooding phase?”

“I don’t know. What’s she paying you?”

“That
is
between her and me, but you’re certainly free to ask her.” The
Star Wars
theme erupted in her purse. “Gavin’s pick,” she said as she dug it out. The readout told her the call came from home. “Hello? Hi, baby.”

Though he was still a little irked, he watched everything about her light up. “You
did
? You’re amazing. Uh-huh. I absolutely will. See you soon.”

She closed the phone, put it back in her purse. “Gavin aced his spelling test.”

“Yay.”

She laughed. “You have
no
idea. I have to pick up pepperoni pizza on the way home. In our family, it’s not a carrot at the end of the stick used as motivation—or simple bribery—it’s pepperoni pizza.”

“You bribe your kids?”

“Often, and without a qualm.”

“Smart. So, they’re getting along in school?”

“They are. All that worry and guilt wasted. I’ll have to set it aside for future use. It was a big move for them—new place, new school, new people. Luke makes friends easily, but Gavin can be a little shy.”

“Didn’t seem shy to me. Kid’s got a spark. Both of them do.”

“Comic book connection. Any friend of Spidey’s, and so on, so they were easy with you. But they’re both sliding right along. So I can scratch traumatizing my sons by ripping them away from their friends off my Things to Worry About list.”

“I bet you actually have one.”

“Every mother has one.” She let out a long, contented sigh as he pulled into the lot at the nursery. “This has been a really good day. Isn’t this a great place? Just look at it. Industrious, attractive, efficient, welcoming. I envy Roz her vision, not to mention her guts.”

“You don’t seem deficient in the guts department.”

“Is that a compliment?”

He shrugged. “An observation.”

She liked being seen as gutsy, so she didn’t tell him she was scared a great deal of the time. Order and routine were solid, defensive walls that kept the fear at bay.

“Well, thanks. For the observation, and the afternoon. I really appreciated both.” She opened the door, hopped out. “And I’ve got a trip into the city for ribs on my list of mustdos.”

“You won’t be sorry.” He got out, walked around to her side. He wasn’t sure why. Habit, he supposed. Ingrained manners his mother had carved into him as a boy. But it wasn’t the sort of situation where you walked the girl to her door and copped a kiss good night.

She thought about offering her hand to shake, but it seemed stiff
and
ridiculous. So she just smiled. “I’ll play the CD for the boys.” She shook her bag. “See what they think.”

“Okay. See you around.”

He started to walk back to his door. Then he cursed under his breath, tossed his sunglasses on the hood, and turned back. “Might as well finish it out.”

She wasn’t slow, and she wasn’t naive. She knew what he intended when he was still a full stride away. But she couldn’t seem to move.

She heard herself make some sound—not an actual word—then his hand raked through her hair, his fingers cupping her head with enough pressure to bring her up on her toes. She saw his eyes. There were gold flecks dusted over the green.

Then everything blurred, and his mouth was hard and hot on hers.

Nothing hesitant about it, nothing testing or particularly friendly. It was all demand, with an irritable edge. Like the man, she thought dimly, he was doing what he intended to do, was determined to see it through, but wasn’t particularly pleased about it.

And still her heart rammed into her throat, throbbing there to block words, even breath. The fingers of the hand that had lifted to his shoulder in a kind of dazed defense dug in. They slid limply down to his elbow when his head lifted.

With his hand still caught in her hair, he said, “Hell.”

He dragged her straight up to her toes again, banded an arm around her so that her body was plastered to his. When his mouth swooped down a second time, any brains that hadn’t already been fried drained out of her ears.

He shouldn’t have thought of kissing her. But once he had, it didn’t seem reasonable to walk away and leave it undone. And now he was in trouble, all wound up in that wild hair, that sexy scent, those soft lips.

And when he deepened the kiss, she let out this sound, this catchy little moan. What the hell was a man supposed to do but want?

Her hair was like a maze of madly coiled silk, and that pretty, curvy body of hers vibrated against him like a well-tuned machine, revving for action. The longer he held her, the more he tasted her, the dimmer the warning bells sounded to remind him he didn’t want to get tangled up with her. On any level.

When he managed to release her, to step back, he saw the flush riding along her cheeks. It made her eyes bluer, bigger. It made him want to toss her over his shoulder and cart her off somewhere, anywhere at all where they could finish what the kiss had started. Because the urge to do so was an ache in the belly, he took another step back.

“Okay.” He thought he spoke calmly, but couldn’t be sure with the blood roaring in his ears. “See you around.”

He walked back to the truck, got in. Managed to turn over the engine and shove into reverse. Then he hit the brakes again when the sun speared into his eyes.

He sat, watching Stella walk forward, retrieve the sunglasses that had bounced off the hood and onto the gravel. He lowered the window as she stepped to it.

His eyes stayed on hers when he reached out to take them from her. “Thanks.”

“Sure.”

He slipped them on, backed out, turned the wheel and drove out of the lot.

Alone, she let out a long, wheezing breath, sucked in another one; and let that out as she ordered her limp legs to carry her to the porch.

She made it as far as the steps before she simply lowered herself down to sit. “Holy Mother of God,” she managed.

She sat, even as a customer came out, as another came in, while everything inside her jumped and jittered. She felt as though she’d fallen off a cliff and was even now, barely—just barely—clinging to a skinny, crumbling ledge by sweaty fingertips.

What was she supposed to do about this? And how could she figure it out when she couldn’t think?

So she wouldn’t try to figure it out until she could think. Getting to her feet, she rubbed her damp palms on the thighs of her pants. For now, she’d go back to work, she’d order pizza, then go home to her boys. Go home to normal.

She did better with normal.

HARPER SPADED THE DIRT AT THE BASE OF THE clematis that wound its way up the iron trellis. It was quiet on this edge of the garden. The shrubs and ornamental trees, the paths and beds separated what he still thought of as the guest house from the main.

Daffodils were just opening up, with all that bright yellow against the spring green. Tulips would be coming along next. They were one of his favorite things about this leading edge of spring, so he’d planted a bed of bulbs right outside the kitchen door of his place.

It was a small converted carriage house and according to every female he’d ever brought there, it was charming. “Dollhouse” was the usual term. He didn’t mind it. Though he thought of it more as a cottage, like a groundskeeper’s cottage with its whitewashed cedar shakes and pitched roof. It was comfortable, inside and out, and more than adequate for his needs.

There was a small greenhouse only a few feet out the back door, and that was his personal domain. The cottage was just far enough from the house to be private, so he didn’t have to feel weird having overnight guests of the female persuasion. And close enough that he could be at the main house in minutes if his mother needed him.

He didn’t like the idea of her being alone, even with David on hand. And thank God for David. It didn’t matter that she was self-sufficient, the strongest person he knew. He just didn’t like the idea of his mother rattling around in that big old house alone, day after day, night after night.

Though he certainly preferred that to having her stuck in it with that asshole she’d married. Words couldn’t describe how he despised Bryce Clerk. He supposed having his mother fall for the guy proved she wasn’t infallible, but it had been a hell of a mistake for someone who rarely made one.

Though she’d given him the boot, swiftly and without mercy, Harper had worried how the man would handle being cut off—from Roz, the house, the money, the whole ball.

And damned if he hadn’t tried to break in once, the week before the divorce was final. Harper didn’t doubt his mother could’ve handled it, but it hadn’t hurt to be at hand.

And having a part in kicking the greedy, cheating, lying bastard out on his ass couldn’t be overstated.

But maybe enough time had passed now. And she sure as hell wasn’t alone in the house these days. Two women, two kids made for a lot of company. Between them and the business, she was busier than ever.

Maybe he should think about getting a place of his own.

Trouble was, he couldn’t think of a good reason. He loved this place, in a way he’d never loved a woman. With a kind of focused passion, respect, and gratitude.

The gardens were home, maybe even more than the house, more than his cottage. Most days he could walk out his front door, take a good, healthy hike, and be at work.

God knew he didn’t want to move to the city. All that noise, all those people. Memphis was great for a night out—a club, a date, meeting up with friends. But he’d suffocate there inside a month.

He sure as hell didn’t want suburbia. What he wanted was right where he was. A nice little house, extensive gardens, a greenhouse and a short hop to work.

He sat back on his heels, adjusted the ball cap he wore to keep the hair out of his eyes. Spring was coming. There was nothing like spring at home. The way it smelled, the way it looked, even the way it sounded.

The light was soft now with approaching evening. When the sun went down, the air would chill, but it wouldn’t have that bite of winter.

When he was done planting here, he’d go in and get himself a beer. And he’d sit out in the dark and the cool, and enjoy the solitude.