Not now, Mom. Im at level four.
Okay. We can talk about it later, I guess. She hesitated. Mr. MacKinnons coming over for a little while after dinner.
You mean Wills dad? That Mr. MacKinnon?
Yes.
Is Will coming over, too?
I dont know. He might.
Okay. Whatever.
No why or what for? He didnt care. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose, then bent his head to the game again. She couldnt resist giving him a fast smooch on his forehead. Now that he was ten, she had to steal kisses, kidnap hugs.
Mom. Im creating an alternate universe right now. Its really hard.
Okay, okay. She smiled but the smile faded in seconds. This was exactly what Mrs. Riddle had implied. Petie was all too happy alone. Everything he loved had always been inside. Hed just never been the kind of kid to play outside, getting into scrapes and mud with playmates.
So, she told herself there was no reason to get nervous about Tucker stopping by. It was a good idea. Single parents had problems that two-parent families just didnt have. As different as their sons were, itd be nice to talk to someone else who lived with a ten-year-old. It wasnt like a personal meeting. Or a date. Or anything remotely like that.
She couldnt imagine Tucker looking at her that way.
The women in her family were bred to be hothouse Southern belles, Charleston style, women who could do the debutante thing and have dinner for fortywith fresh flowers and crystalprepared in an hours notice. Garnet wasnt adopted, although when she was eleven, shed checked to make sure. Something had gone wrong, anyway. Her sisters and momeven her grandmotherhad gracious beauty and poise without even trying.
Shed been born plain vanilla. Always had been, always would be.
The point, though, was that she never got back in the house until nearly six. Shed wanted a shower and clean clothes and a major spiff-up before Tucker got there. Instead, life just kept interfering. Sally needed help with updating Plain Vanillas website and Facebook page, which Garnet loved on a par with triple taxes and bee stings. And then Mary Lou cornered her in the backroom, where new herb and spice recipes needed a taste test and review.
By the time Garnet finally charged back home, Petie had made dinnerpeanut butter and banana sandwiches, one of his specialties, followed by fresh brownies. Brownies were one of Peties favorite creations. This time hed added raspberries, blueberries and marshmallows. She never knew what he was going to put in next.
Hey, Id have made you dinner, she told him.
Yeah, well, you were busy and I was starving for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Mom
What?
You know that crazy-looking cat thats been around for the last week or so?
The black-and-orange-and-white one?
Yeah. I think shes pregnant, because I saw her on the window sill about an hour ago, and her stomach was, like, huge.
No, Garnet said.
I never asked you anything.
You were going to.
Petie shot her a look, one of his most endearing. I understand why you said no. You have to feel like youre the one in charge. Well talk about it later.
She chased after him with a dish towel. Sometimes you sound older than Methuselah.
Just because Im smarter than you?
Petie. We cant adopt every single animal who wanders on our porch!
Yes, Mom.
Im still recovering from the ferret you took in.
Yes, Mom.
And the raccoon babies.
Yes, Mom. He said consolingly, Its okay for you to say no. Really. I wont feel neglected or deprived or anything like that.
She couldnt shoot the kid. He was the best thing in her world. She loved him more than life. But he was getting a mouth, and their teasing took another twenty minutes off the clock. She charged into the bathroom, took one look in the mirror and knew she didnt remotely have enough time. She needed a shower, a hair wash, her foot rebandaged, a haircut, a hair style, a wardrobe refurbishing, shaved legs, time to buy some makeup in town, maybe some jewelry and new sandals.
She also needed to clean her bedroomnot because anyone was going to see it, but because so many things were strewn all over the place that she couldnt find anything.
A few minutes after seven, Petie yelled from the living room, Hey, Mom, Mr. MacKinnon is here!
Well, at least shed progressed from being naked. The cream linen shirt was ancient, but it was softer than silk and had a band collar. It was her lucky shirt. Her feel-safe shirt. Her hair was still wet, but shed made a makeshift fat braid, used a tortoiseshell comb to pin it off her head. The capris were clean. And that was the end of her grooming.
Shed have put sandals on, but they were by the back door. Shed put on lipstick, but hadnt gotten around to the dishes. Shed bandaged her foot, but the coffee table was still heaped with folded clothes thatyet againrefused to put themselves away.
When it came down to it, just showing up was the best she could manage.
Petie was doing a far better job of taking care of their guest. He was sprawled on top of the couch as if he was an afghan, lazily slinging a dirty bare foot in the air. Hed served their guest a sweating glass of grape Kool-Aid and opened a package of Oreos.
My theory, Pete was explaining to Tucker, is that when schools out, you should get to forget about it. You should get to do stuff you like. Summer should be about not worrying Hey, Mom. Mr. MacKinnons here.
I see him. And I heard when you called me the first time. Welcome, Tucker.
He stood up, not the polite way a boarding-school kid learned to stand when a lady entered the room. It was more of a long, lanky stretching up. He went from a nice, reasonable-sized man sitting in a chair, to a six-three hunk of space that instantly stole all the oxygen in the room.
There was nothing manicured about Tucker. His eyebrows were the same scruffy brown as his hair and the stubble on his chin. The shirt was clean, no more wrinkled than his cotton pants, and his slow smile looked as lazy as the rest of him. The blue eyes were sexy blue. Laser-riveting blue. Dizzy blue. Or maybe that was just how she reacted to him.
It certainly wasnt Tuckers fault he made her knees want to buckle. She should have matured years ago. She kept meaning to. As soon as she had time. For now, unfortunately, he was the only man in a blue moon who had inspired a completely ditzy, unreasonable, irrational crush.
Youve got quite a place here, he said easily.
Its a work in progress. Would you like me to show you around?
Sure. That sounds good. Pete, you want to come with us?
Do I have to? Pete asked her.
Nope. Up to you.
She wished hed come. She wanted a chaperone. Not to protect her from Tucker. To protect him from her. She was likely to make a damn fool of herself around him.
But showing him around the place gave her something to do, something to say. She started with the shop, because the bombardment of scents and textures usually pleased everybodymen as well as women.
Wow. Howd you come up with all this? he asked, almost the minute they walked in the door.
But showing him around the place gave her something to do, something to say. She started with the shop, because the bombardment of scents and textures usually pleased everybodymen as well as women.
Wow. Howd you come up with all this? he asked, almost the minute they walked in the door.
Naturally her pride swelled like a balloon. All this time, shed never been able to talk to him, and now she couldnt stop. First, she explained how shed arranged the shop, and why. Her herbs were all in pots, set in antique porcelain sinks, located so theyd get east light. The old porcelain added to the country-comfortable atmosphere, but also enabled her to set up a water-spraying system so the herbs could easily be misted.
Across the room, the west side held cubbyholes with books on medicinal and culinary uses for herbs and spices, with handwritten recipes that Garnet had started but her customers had added to. Color photographs identified what the herbs looked like in different seasons. The north wall had the least exposure to sunlight, so it was a natural spot to put counters and shelves for bottled or burlap-packed spices and herbs, with fresh samples displayed on small trenchers so a customer could smell and taste.
Obviously the fresh samples arent there nowwe clean up at night. But lots of customers dont know the difference between cilantro and basil. Thats why we have the samples and the books and the recipes to give them ideas about how to use them.
So whats back here? Tucker motioned to a wooden half door leading to a space in the back.
She unhooked the gate to the half door and motioned him through so he could see. We have classes back here Sometimes well cater a lunch for a small group, or well use recipes to show folks how to use their herbs. This is also where we pot and arrange the plants. And theres one more room in the far back .
She led the way ahead of him. The back room was her favorite, possibly because of its spectacularly wonderful messes. A board-plank table functioned as a work area, but every inch of space was used. Herbs dried from the ceiling and cubbyholes held rolls of ribbon and linen bags and string, while potting soil and tools and pots took up another heap of space. And this is one of my serious treasures. She motioned to the climate-controlled aquarium that took up one complete wall. I created this for a teaching tool. Its just a miniature woods to show some of the endangered species in our area. Like this plant, Grays Lily and the Glade Splurge here and this is Mountain Bittercress.
Her voice trailed off. She completely lost her train of thought. She glanced up and found him watching her. Until that instant she hadnt realized how close he was, how tall he was, and damn, if he didnt have the most wicked eyes. Alarm thrummed in her pulse. It was one thing to admit she had a crush, another to fool herself into believing he was looking at her with interest. That kind of interest.
She covered the awkward moment with a sudden quick laugh. Well, Ive been talking your ear off, havent I? You didnt come here to hear about all this.
Only because I didnt know what all you were doing here. I knew about the shop. Everybody does. But I didnt know you did all this interactive stuff with your customers. I mean, all the hands-on learning, side education, the whole shebang.
Garnet could feel a flush climb her neck, embarrassing the devil out of her. She just rarely heard praise.
Well, isnt that similar to what you do? she asked swiftly. I know, you dont have a shop. But you have some kind of private school ?
Not a school. A camp and retreat center. I sort of fell into it. Had to do something with my mountain I mean, theres some real beauty up top, a small lake, waterfalls, creeks, rocks, woods. Its too damned special not to share. So I take in groups. Boys in trouble. Companies having trouble with employees getting along. People wanting to start a new venture, make sure the whole new staff can cleave together.
And then ? She ambled back outside with him, exiting from the shops back door. A slatted roof covered the breezeway to her bungalow, which provided shade but no mercy from the heat. Tonight, though, the oppressive temperatures had finally eased. A pale haze was stealing across the sky, softening the bright edges of the day.
Well, what I do after that depends on the group, Tucker said. I tend to start them out with some exercisenot work exercise, something fun. That gives me a baseline to work with. I get a picture of what the group can dowhat the group might want to achieve together. I dont teach. I wouldnt know how to teach. But its a little like what you created here. I try to expose people to things they havent seen and done before. Hope to challenge them, to engage their natural interests. When something works, I build on that. Garnet ?
Shed been listening, but when he said her name in a question, she lifted her head.
Id like to see everything youve got going outside, but maybe another time? I can see youre favoring that right foot. How about if we find a place to park for a few minutes?
She wasnt going to deny her sore foot again. You have no idea how well the limps been working for me. Ive been playing it up all day, making everyone else do the work, while I do the lazy Queen of Sheba routine.
He grinned. Somehow I believe that, like I believe in the tooth fairy.
He had an odd way of making her feel comfortable when shed never imagined being comfortable around Tucker. He gravitated toward her front porch, where he probably spotted the old Adirondack rockers nested in the shade. It was a favorite spot for her. She couldnt see the road or the shop; she just had her private view of the mountain and the acres shed cultivated with greenhouses and raised gardens.
Tucker took it all in, as if the view were sipping whiskey. Wow. Youve got a lot to do here. Major work.
Its taken a long time to get it this far. But I love it, she admitted.
Is that a padlock I see on the far greenhouse?
Yes its pretty much the only thing I keep locked around here.
For a special reason?
Oh, yeah. My vanilla plants are in there. Its the specialty of the whole place not that Im doing anything so brilliant. But its a strain of vanilla I developed, so I need to guard it.
Hed cocked up a leg, started a slow, lazy rock. Speaking of stuff that smells beyond irresistiblelike vanillawhats the thing Im smelling around the porch?
She motioned to the pots around the doors and steps. Mint. It takes over if you just let it grow, but in pots its easy enough to contain. Theyre not such pretty plants, but according to folklore, flying bugs and insects just dont like the smell, so they stay away.
For a secondjust a small, small seconda silence fell. Because shed never had the brains God gave a goose, she suddenly thought of a local folklore legend. Old-timers claimed that Whisper Mountain got its name from a whispering wind that only lovers heard.
In that small, small second of silence she heard it. The whisper. The silken-soft whisper in the air. The achy sweet hum of yearning.
How stupid could she be? Annoyed with herself, she stabbed the porch floor with a heel and set her rocker at a creaky pace.
Tucker broke that dangerous silence. How bads the head?