“Please tell me you didn’t just make a mock-turtleneck joke.” She rolled her eyes and giggled. “Had you not shown up early to stalk me, you would have picked me up at the house, and I would have been dressed in a really cute dress.”
“I don’t know if I believe that. Is it a turtleneck dress?”
She laughed and shook her head. “You’ll never know because you showed up early. Really early, actually. What time is it?”
Austin rocked back on his heels and looked at the cash-register lines, which only had a few people waiting.
“It’s around three.” He cleared his throat. “Ish. Give or take.”
“Huh.” Her smile grew, and he saw a glint of excitement behind her eyes. “And you were going to pick me up at six?”
“What can I say?” He touched her cheek. “Since you’re leaving town, I kind of need my fix.”
“Your fix?” She giggled. “So is stalking okay in your world?”
“It’s not technically stalking when your friends rat you out.”
“So it is Sylia and Peter.” She pointed at him, grinning. “I knew it.”
“They want you to stay in Washington almost as badly as I do.”
“And they think you’re the one to do that? Make me stay?”
“Well, it’s all they’ve got, and it certainly seems to be a shot in the dark.”
Ashley giggled and glanced at the registers. “So, after we check out, what do you have planned for me for the next few hours?”
“Have you been to the Silver Ridge Botanical Gardens?” he asked, taking the seeds from her.
“Is that back in Silver Ridge?”
“It is.” He nodded.
“But I thought we were having dinner down here at that Greek place.”
“Boy, you like your plans, don’t you?” He chuckled.
“Almost as much as I like my turtlenecks.”
He grimaced. “That’s saying something.”
She laughed. “I think the botanical gardens would be great, but isn’t everything dead at this time of year?”
“Well, believe it or not, the gardens are beautiful at this time of year.”
“How do you know? Do you take all the women to them?” she teased, and he shook his head.
“My mom sits on the board for the gardens, and when I was a kid, I had to help dig all the holes.”
“Really?” Ashley asked, surprised.
“What? That surprises you?”
“Kind of. I mean, you’re kind of . . .” She twisted her lips into a cute pout, and he almost lost it. He knew she could use those lips to beg him for more in bed, but he stayed put. “Privileged.”
“Oh, you have so much to learn about the North family.” He shook his head, laughing. “If my mother or grandmother heard you utter that word, they’d come unglued.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened.
“We might have had a good start in life, but we were expected to work. It started with chores when we were kids, no allowances, just the expectation that we’d get things done. And as soon as we could work legally, we all had to find jobs, and in between putting in our hours, we had to volunteer as well.”
“Wow. I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” She bit her bottom lip and sucked on it briefly as she thought about what to say, but all Austin could do was stare at how sexy she looked doing that.
“We’ve worked really hard to get the resort to where it is today, and we’ve certainly lucked out in a lot of instances, but there was a lot of hard work involved, and I can’t thank my mom enough for getting my brothers and me in shape for what it took to run a place this large.”
Ashley nodded. “It’s really refreshing to hear. You know, I work for people who can afford nannies, fancy cars, and luxurious vacations, and they all work hard for where they are in life. But I come from a family who worked hard and never got anywhere, so I’m a little jaded.”
“No way,” Austin teased. “You? Jaded?”
She giggled and turned toward the registers. “Tell me about this garden, and you’d better show me which trees you planted when we get there.”
Austin’s smile widened as Ashley followed him to the register. When the cashier rang everything up, Austin quickly purchased the seeds and fertilizer and carried it out to her car with her right behind.
“I can pay for my own seeds.” She unlocked her car and crossed her arms.
“You sure can. You can pay for your own seeds, car, place to live, and things to eat, but I don’t think chivalry is dead.” He shrugged. “Just think of me when you’re planting your seeds.”
“It’s kind of hard not to.” She smiled and took a deep breath.
“So, I’m getting under your skin a little?” he teased.
“In more ways than one.” She eyed him playfully.
“Good. Then I’m using my time wisely.”
“Not as wisely as you could,” she nearly hummed and wagged her finger at Austin.
He took a step forward, closing the gap between them, and he heard a little gasp escape her lips, which completely excited him, but he had to play it cool.
“Ashley Malone, I’m beginning to think you’re all talk.” He tilted his head slightly and leaned down, his lips close to hers.
“I invited you to my suite the other night,” she said breathlessly. “And you left. I think it might be you who’s all talk.”
He could see the heat running through her eyes, and it took all the willpower in the world to not let himself take her in his arms and kiss her. Instead, he kept his eyes steadied on hers and smiled.
“What?” she asked. “You don’t have a rebuttal?”
Austin only smiled wider and pulled the keys out of his pocket. “Ready for the garden.”
“These had better be some good plants,” she muttered as he turned and walked to his car with his pulse racing and his groin on fire.
He’d already sat in the car and turned on the engine when she climbed in.
“You’ll be happy to know the owners of the Greek restaurant also opened one up in Silver Ridge, so you’re still getting your Greek food.”
She let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, thank the heavens. I’ve been craving it since you told me about it. I don’t really go out to eat much unless the Finns do and I need to watch the kids.”
“Yeah. I hear ya. If I didn’t happen to own so many restaurants, I’d probably be the same way.”
“It’s not that I don’t like eating by myself in public or anything. I don’t think people are staring or something. It’s that I eat so fast because there’s no one to talk to, and then I get heartburn. Sexy, huh?”
Austin laughed and shook his head as he turned onto the highway. “I would expect nothing less.”
A few minutes of silence sat between them. “What made you decide to go half-turtleneck today instead of full-turtleneck?” He smiled, and he was pretty sure he saw her roll her eyes out of the corner of his eye.
“Well, the sun was out, but it’s still chilly. I thought I’d let my neck get a little sun.”
“Or at least half of it.” Austin laughed, loving how good-natured she was.
“Precisely.”
By the time they arrived at the turnoff for the gardens, they’d covered so many topics, and the conversation never went stale. He’d told her about each brother and how they chose which part of the resort to oversee. She’d asked him about his grandmother’s pies and if his mother ever wanted a daughter.
The parking gate was shut, and Ashley turned her head toward Austin. “It’s closed.”
“To the public.” He held up his pass card and rolled the window down.
“Perk of being wealthy.”
“No, perk of a mom being a board member.”
She chuckled. “Fine. You’re one of those down-to-earth rich people. I get it.”
Austin’s laughter filled the car as he quickly found a place to park in the empty lot.
“Now, no trying to take advantage
of me at the gazebo or anything. The gardeners are still wandering around this place.”
Ashley’s eyes narrowed, and she playfully swatted at him. “You wish.”
“Oh, I do.” Austin winked at her, climbed out of the car, and went to his trunk where he pulled out a couple of extra-warm jackets.
She met him there and smiled.
“You’re not the only one who likes to stay warm.” He handed her a goose down jacket that was warmer than the one she was wearing, and she smiled.
“Thanks.” She slipped off hers and put on the fluffier jacket before pulling on her gloves. “Tell me why this place is so special in the winter.”
“You’ll see.” He slipped his hand over hers and led her to a path.
The garden was as beautiful as he remembered it in the pure white snow.
“Wow.” Ashley pointed at the rows of red-barked trees arching along the pathway. “Those are gorgeous.”
“Thank you.”
“You planted those?” she asked.
“Every single Coral Bark Japanese Maple in this place was hand-dug by yours truly.”
“You even know the name?”
“Of course.”
She bent down and admired the branches. “The red limbs are truly magnificent against the white backdrop of the snow.” She gasped and pointed farther down the trail. “And wow. Look at those shrubs with the yellow bark. “Dogwood, right?”
“Yes, indeed. Yellow Twig Dogwood.”
She took off toward the shrub and turned back to smile at Austin, her eyes lit up in a way he’d not seen before.
“You were right. This is a beautiful time of year to come.”
He nodded and smiled. “My favorite.”
“It makes a person stop and notice the forgettable parts of a plant. I’m usually focused on flowers or how big a tomato is, but this is truly gorgeous.” She was touching one of the yellow stems. “I mean, I can say for sure that I just walk by trees and shrubs without a second glance. I have never paid attention to what color the limbs are or—” Her eyes fell to one of the most fantastic shrubs in the entire garden this time of year. “What in the world is that?”
She looked at Austin before turning her attention back to the naked shrub with only the berries clinging to each branch.
“That’s a Callicarpa Bodinieri, otherwise known as a Beautyberry bush.” He grinned.
“I’ve never seen a shrub with almost metallic berries, and purple berries? Actually, more like lavender berries.” She started toward the bush.
“I wasn’t sure the berries would still be on there. The birds love them and tend to pluck them off all winter. It blooms in mid-to-late summer.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Wait. How do you know so much about so many of these plants?”
He cleared his throat and glanced toward the snow-covered ground. What he didn’t mention was that along with losing his girlfriend, he’d also lost the dream he’d once had. He knew what was expected of him, so he ignored what he liked to do and started working at the resort. He chose operations because at least he could be over the landscape division.
“When my mom forced my brothers and me to volunteer here, it turned out I really enjoyed working with plants and landscape design. I liked taking care of the shrubs and trees and learning about their flowers, fruits, and leaf shapes. You know.” He shrugged. “Typical guy stuff.”
“Yes, men are all about the flowers.” She smiled, her eyes softening as she watched him. He could literally see her wheels spinning. Maybe his plan really would work. If she let herself get to know the true Austin North, just maybe, she’d like him.
“Anyway, I took an interest, and this was where I volunteered most summers. I happened to learn the botanical names because I learned quickly that the common names are often used on several plants that look nothing alike, but if you learn the botanical names, you won’t order the wrong plant.”
“I never would have guessed you liked gardening.”
He smiled as she touched the branch holding a cluster of Callicarpa berries.
“What’s over there?” she asked, pointing at the area of the gardens he had been lucky enough to design his senior year of high school. Very few knew that he’d been responsible for that section of the Silver Ridge Botanical Gardens. “It looks amazing.”
She stood and linked her fingers through his as he led her over to the part of the gardens he was most proud of. A beautiful pine gazebo sat in the middle of the garden with several paths leading away, each one to a miniature garden he’d designed.
“Okay.” She let go of his hand. “This is by far my most favorite section of this place.” She took off toward the nearest tiny garden and spun around. “Between the snow and these beautiful red flowers—this is a winter-blooming camellia, right?”
He nodded.
“This is like Disneyland for gardeners.”
He laughed and nodded in agreement. “I’m glad you like it.”
“And what is that?” She pointed at a shrub with buttery-yellow blooms on bare limbs.
“That’s a Paperbush.”
“Botanical name?” she asked.
“Edgeworthia.” He grinned, excited that she loved this as much as he did.
“Oh, my gosh. And snowdrops? I haven’t seen snowdrops in forever. They’re so dainty, and I love how they just multiply.”
“Thank you.”
She narrowed her eyes on him and stood up. “Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?” She walked toward Austin, and he noticed a little limp. He wondered if it hurt but didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want her to take the question the wrong way.
“This whole area was my senior project.”
Her brows arched, and she slowly walked to the gazebo with Austin following quickly behind.
“In high school, I took a landscape design course as an elective, and I was able to talk the board into letting me design this area.” He laughed. “I will confess that in that instance, it was helpful to have my mother on the board.”
“Wow. I’m just . . .” She turned around and took everything in. “In awe.”
“Well, Ashley Malone.” He took her in his arms. “That’s how you make me feel every time I’m with you. In awe.” And his lips found hers as he let himself imagine the possibilities of keeping Ashley Malone, even if she’d truly never be his.
Chapter Seventeen
The last four days since her trip to the botanical garden had been filled with seeing Austin North, trying to forget about Austin North, and planning another date with him.
It was crazy that she’d seen him nearly every day, and while she’d like to believe there was truly a possibility of winding up with him, she knew better. The quickest way to squash a relationship’s potential was to move out of state with no hope of moving back.
And that was precisely what was going to happen. She’d spent all morning sending her boxes packed with most of her belongings to Virginia. She’d decided to donate most of her bedroom furniture, so she didn’t have to hassle with shipping it, and she’d even decided to sell her car and purchase a new one out east.
She wanted a fresh start, and she didn’t want to think about what all she’d left behind. The Finns had been more like family than any other she’d stayed with, and certainly more family-like than her own.
In fact, it was becoming more difficult to say yes to Austin because she was missing spending time with the Finns. As crazy as that might sound, it was how it was shaping up to be.
Esther squealed downstairs, and Ashley’s chest tightened. She loved little Esther, and every day, something new was catching the little darling’s eyes. Ashley was going to hate missing out, but that was the hazard of this kind of job. She knew better than to get too attached. After all, they weren’t really her family. It was a paid job.
But that was it. She decided to cancel tonight’s date with Austin. She needed to spend what little time she had left in Cherry Hill with the Finns.
; With newfound energy, she glanced around her nearly-empty room, turned off the light, and bounded down the stairs toward Esther’s squeals of delight.
“I was worried you wouldn’t be able to stuff any more in that tiny car of yours. I don’t know how you crawled in it this morning,” Sylia said as Ashley walked into the family room. “You know you could have borrowed the Rover.”
“And crash it on my last week before I leave town? No, thanks.” She laughed.
“We have insurance, and you wouldn’t crash it.” Sylia picked up Esther and propped her on her hip. “We’re headed to Silver Ridge tonight to have dinner with Austin’s mother at her home.”
Ashley’s heart sank. “Oh, I didn’t know that. I thought you were just hanging around the house.” And then a thought occurred to her. “Did you need me to watch the kids?”
Sylia shook her head. “Dear, you’ve been off the clock for weeks, and I’m certainly not going to ask you to watch our littles when you only have a week or so left getting to know Austin.”
Ashley threw her head back, laughing. “Oh, I see how it is.”
“You do have a dinner date with him tonight, right?” Sylia asked, and Ashley nodded, grateful she hadn’t canceled on him.
“I heard he took you to the Silver Ridge Botanical Gardens.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, and her smile grew. “He’s really falling for you.”
“How do you know?”
“Oh, please. He’s opening up the only way he knows how in the limited time he’s got. A little birdie told me you’re not making it easy on him either.”
Ashley’s hand flew to her hip. “What birdie? Who said that?”
“Those gardens are his heart and soul. You know, it’s a shame he never became a landscape architect. He spent four years studying it and even got accepted into a graduate program.”
Ashley froze. “He did? I didn’t know that.”
“Oh, you didn’t? I assumed he told you.” Sylia’s cheeks flamed. “Well, anyway. It all works out. He does great at what he does at the resort.”
A Surprising Fact About Love: Small Town Romance (Silver Ridge Series Book 4) Page 14