“Reese tells us that you share his love of gardening.” His mother offered a warm smile. “He said you have been working with the City Beautiful Movement. A vacant lot garden?”
Tessa quirked a questioning look in his direction. He’d explain later why he hadn’t told them about the Como garden they’d planted together.
“Uh, yes, but I’m merely helping. It’s great to see the empty areas put to good use.”
“Do you have other hobbies, Miss Gregory?” His father, however, seemed more interested in Nels’s garden than her answer.
Reese’s eyes widened as a grin spread on Tessa’s face. She wouldn’t dare tell them about the motorcycle, would she?
“I enjoy things that keep me moving.” She shared a look with him. “I enjoy the arts too. Especially drama.”
“Well.” Reese took Tessa’s elbow. “I see Mr. Nussbaumer. Shall we go take a look at Nels’s creation?”
Tessa kept her distance when they met Mr. Nussbaumer at the entrance to the area, but he clearly didn’t recognize her. Several other park workers had joined them to view the garden’s grand opening. After he exchanged greetings with Reese’s father, he motioned to Nels. “Shall we?”
Nels opened a wrought-iron gate, and the group moved down the paved brick walk. The formal-style garden featured simplistic, geometric designs. He’d used an existing boxwood hedge and trimmed it to line the pathway and make a pocket for the hydrangeas, astilbe, and hostas.
The linear designs matched Nels’s character, much like Tessa’s garden design matched hers. Nels’s garden had a sense of order and tidiness. Only white flowers bloomed in his containers, and nothing seemed out of place. Symmetry reigned in every corner.
Reese risked a glance at Tessa, who wrinkled her nose. He chuckled. There were not enough bells and whistles to pique her interest.
Mr. Nussbaumer turned to Reese’s father. “Would you care to offer your professional opinion?”
“It is well balanced and classic.” He squatted next to a hedge and eyed it critically. “These are perfectly pruned. The work is skillfully done.”
“I agree.” Mr. Nussbaumer shook Nels’s hand. “Very gut work, Nels. There is nothing wrong with your garden.” He turned to Reese. “Now, shall we see what you have created?”
Mr. Nussbaumer fell in step beside him with his parents behind, leaving Tessa to walk beside Nels. Some of the other park employees trailed behind the group.
The closer they came to the garden, the more Reese’s stomach twisted like an overgrown grapevine. Having his father there intensified the stress tenfold. What if his father didn’t approve of their work?
They reached the entrance to the garden, an ornamental gate between two pillars, and stopped. Tessa called it the entrance to the enchanted garden. He motioned the others inside and hung back to gauge their reaction.
His father and mother paused to look at each of the garden rooms and whispered among themselves. Though not completely filled in yet, the flowers emphasized a display of color worthy of the Fourth of July. Mr. Nussbaumer stood in the middle by the two-tiered fountain so long that Reese feared he wouldn’t explore the rest. Finally, he moved on, seemingly taking note of the basket weave design of the brick sidewalk.
Reese shot a glance in Tessa’s direction. She too was watching the master gardener’s every move. When Mr. Nussbaumer reached the clair-voie, an open gate that marked the next room, Reese smiled at her. This area held a sundial, and she’d chosen the piece because, according to her, gardens like this were timeless.
After nearly forty-five minutes, Mr. Nussbaumer approached Reese’s father. “He is a gut gardener, ja?”
His father nodded. “I had no idea you’d embraced the Arts and Crafts movement with such enthusiasm and vision. You have a bright future before you, son.”
Reese’s heart soared. Finally. His father believed in him.
“I too am impressed, Reese.” Mr. Nussbaumer held out his hand. “Congratulations. It is my pleasure to offer you the head gardener’s position at the new conservatory. Not only are your plants in splendid condition, but your design is truly brilliant.”
His design? No, this wasn’t his design. Tessa was in every detail—the gate, the fountain, the sundial, the shrubs, and the flowers—but how could he speak up and say that now in front of this crowd? In front of Mr. Nussbaumer? In front of his father?
He looked at Tessa, excitement filling her eyes. She was smiling, waiting for him to tell them all the truth.
He tore his gaze away.
If he said something now, it would ruin any chance they could have for a future together. She would have to understand.
“Thank you, sir. I’m pleased you like my garden.”
Tessa’s heart shattered.
His garden?
She stared at him. Surely any second he’d turn in her direction and call a halt to this whole façade.
The plans were hers. The vision was hers. Hers.
Please, Reese, please, say something.
Nothing.
Tears seared her cheeks, and still she stood there. He didn’t say a word or look in her direction. How could he do this to her? Had this been his plan all along? He’d said he loved her. Was that a lie too?
Like a weed in the garden, he’d yanked her heart out by the roots and tossed it aside to dry in the sun.
In her effort to prove how mature she was, she’d let a man use her and fill her head with romantic notions. What a fool she’d been!
Gathering the sides of her dress, she dashed down the sidewalk. She had to escape. She had to get away from Reese King forever.
32
Side aching, Tessa dropped to a bench and tried to catch her breath between sobs.
“Miss? Are you all right?”
She looked up to see the park officer, the same man who’d almost arrested her that first day, holding a handkerchief out for her.
No, I’m not all right! Even you should be able to see that.
She pushed his hand away and scurried toward the only building in the area. She needed a place to cry or scream or both, and right now, with everyone in the park fawning over Reese, the office would be empty.
As soon as she was inside, she slammed the door shut. More hot, angry tears spilled forth. Her chest felt as if it would explode. “This cannot be happening. It’s not fair!”
Fair? What had been fair in her whole life? Was it fair for her parents to die? Was it fair to fall in love with a man who would betray her? Was it fair to be wrongly accused at the university? Was it fair for Charlotte to be unable to have a baby, while Hannah had no trouble conceiving?
Hannah. She had to get control of herself. Hannah needed her.
She sniffed and dried her eyes with her palms. Turning to Reese for help was no longer an option, and Edward was going to tell Hannah about Tessa’s school situation tomorrow if she didn’t have that stupid information for him. She had no other choice.
Like the gates she and Reese had worked on, Mr. Nussbaumer’s door remained ajar. She glanced around before hurrying inside. She didn’t bother to shut the office door. Finding what she needed would only take a few minutes.
She picked up the first stack of papers and leafed through it. A second and third stack revealed nothing as well. Then a folder on the upper left-hand corner of the desk caught her eye. She opened it and read the top letter. It was a construction bid from the Ingersol Construction Company.
This was it! Now all she had to do was find out who had submitted the lowest bid.
Guilt swept over her and stilled her trembling fingers.
“I thought I recognized you.” The park officer stood at Mr. Nussbaumer’s door. “Care to tell me what you’re looking at, miss?”
“Nothing.”
“Then set that folder of nothing down and come out here.”
Tessa heaved a sigh and did as she was told. The park officer grabbed her wrist and yanked out a pair of handcuffs.
“What are you doing?”
She tried to pull away, but he managed to snap one side on.
“I’m making sure you stay right here while I go find Mr. Nussbaumer.” He clipped the other end to a pipe on the wall.
“You’re just going to leave me here like this?”
“Yep.” He grinned. “Maybe you can figure out a better story before I return.”
Could this day get any worse?
Reese scanned the hats of every woman in the park. Where had Tessa gone? He needed to talk to her.
One of the park officers hurried toward him. “Mr. King, I’m so glad I found you. Remember that lady I caught picking flowers who you said you’d take care of? Well, I found her going through papers in Mr. Nussbaumer’s office. What do you want me to do with her?”
His heart lurched. “Is she still there?”
“Sure. I handcuffed her to a pipe.”
What had Tessa been up to? “Give me the key.”
“What?”
“Give me the key.” He held out his hand. “I’ll take care of her.”
“She’s trouble, Mr. King.” He fished the key from his pocket and dropped it in Reese’s hand. “Mark my words. She’s trouble with a capital T.”
Reese wrapped his fist around the key. “No, she’s not. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and if I have to spend the rest of my life proving it to her, I will.”
It seemed reasonable that the floors of a park office would be dirt covered, but Tessa had stood so long she’d finally had to sit down. Her rose-colored dress might never be the same. Not that she’d ever want to wear it again. When she got home, she might even burn it as a way to destroy her memories of Reese and this horrid day.
Tessa propped her arms on her raised knees and buried her head. After Mr. Nussbaumer came, any future at Como or any other park in the city would be over, but even worse, she’d failed in her task.
If she hadn’t second-guessed herself at the last moment, she’d have had the figure she needed for Edward. His client could submit the lowest bid for the project, and most of all, Hannah and her baby would be safe.
The door handle rattled, and she jerked her head up in time to see Reese slip inside. He shut the door and latched it.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice came out icy.
“I could ask you the same thing.” He dangled the key in front of him. “I ran into your favorite park officer.”
“I’d prefer him over you.” She moved her wrist, making the handcuffs clang against the pipe. “If you’ll unlock me, you can be rid of me for good.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Nope.”
“You’re not going to let me go?”
“Not until you tell me why you’re here.”
She rose to her feet and sent him a fiery glare. “That’s none of your business.”
“Anything that has to do with you is my business.”
“It was. It’s not anymore.”
“I know I hurt you, and we’ll talk about that later, but right now I want answers. Why are you here?”
“I had some papers to look at.” Why give him a complete explanation when a partial one would do?
“Which papers?”
“The bids for the conservatory, but don’t worry, I didn’t see them. Unlike some people, I have a conscience.”
“Why would you want those?” He ignored the barb and moved to unlock the handcuffs. He slid the one cuff off the pipe while Tessa removed the other from her wrist. “Wait a minute. You don’t want those bids. Someone else does.” He stepped back to look at her face. “Is it Edward? Did he ask you to do this? I told you—”
“That I was supposed to turn to you?” She rubbed her wrist where the handcuff had chafed. “Well, I had every intention of doing exactly that until you showed me that this whole time, you were the one putting on the act.”
“Tessa, let me explain. I love you. I still care.”
“Care?” Anger burned in her chest. “You care about your job. You care about impressing your father, but if you cared about me, you wouldn’t have used me.”
“Listen, Tessa.” He reached for her hand, but she yanked it away. “I couldn’t say anything about your part in the garden because I had to have that new position in order to have enough money to support a wife. It was so we could have a future.”
“What future, Reese?” Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. The ache in her heart threatened to crush her. She put her hand on the door handle. “I may not have always told you everything, but I never intentionally hurt you. I can’t love a man I can’t trust with my heart.”
33
The slamming door still echoed in Reese’s ears. He stood in the park office, his chest heaving, clenching and unclenching his fists until they ached. He wanted to hit something or someone, but the only person he could be angry with was himself.
He headed into Mr. Nussbaumer’s office to fix things. He didn’t want to explain any of this to him.
When he stepped out of the room, the door opened and Nels walked in. Surprise at seeing Reese registered for a fraction of a second in the widening of his eyes. He quickly schooled his features. “Congratulations, Reese.”
“Thank you.” Reese swallowed. “Your garden was outstanding.”
“But clearly not as remarkable as yours.” Nels seemed to consider his next words for a moment before he crossed his arms over his chest. “You know, I saw her.”
“Her?”
“The young woman disguised as a boy who helped you. I could have told Mr. Nussbaumer, but I chose not to.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Tessa Gregory. You met her a while back when we were having lunch together. Remember?”
“Hard to forget.” He gave a wry laugh. “And you two are courting?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, I wanted you to know, I’m not the kind of guy to take shortcuts. Besides, it wasn’t like she designed it.” Nels shrugged and offered Reese his hand. “The best garden won—fair and square.”
Reese forced a smile and shook Nels’s work-roughened hand, then watched the gardener exit the building.
First his father, then Mr. Nussbaumer, and now Nels—three chances to tell the truth about Tessa Gregory.
A cold hand gripped his heart. How could he do that to her?
Reese almost expected to hear a cock crowing in the distance.
The streetcar bell clanged as the conductor brought the car to a stop. Tessa forced herself to climb off at the corner and begin the short trek to Charlotte’s house, but every step took more effort than it should have.
The steady pop, pop, pop of a motorcycle drew her attention, and she longed to hop astride one of the thrilling machines and feel the air in her face.
She considered going home to Aunt Sam, but that wasn’t what she needed. She needed Charlotte to come with her to speak to Hannah. It would mean Charlotte would have to put aside her own hurt, like Tessa would have to put aside her pride.
Tessa prayed Aunt Sam had been right about a family being like a tree. Please, Lord, let the roots of our love run deep.
Charlotte greeted her at the door and immediately brought her inside, made her tea, and offered her a piece of chocolate cake. “Tessa, what’s wrong?”
Although Tessa didn’t intend to share every detail, amid tears and hugs, the story of the morning spilled out.
“Oh, Tessa. I’m so sorry that things are not going to work out at Como, but you can always go back to the university next term and finish your schooling.”
Tessa’s pulse quickened. The moment had come. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I only want to tell this story once.” She squeezed Charlotte’s hand. “Will you please come with me to Hannah’s? I want you both to hear this from me. Please come. I promise it’s a matter of life and death.”
“Life and death?” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I know you’re distressed, and rightfully so, but really, Tessa, do
n’t you think that’s a bit much even for you?”
“We have to protect Hannah and the baby. So you’ll go?”
“You’re my sister, and if you need me, of course I will.”
Fresh tears seared Tessa’s eyes. The images on Hannah’s parlor wall, two photographs in oak oval frames, blurred—a wash of gray and white.
“I smell cinnamon.” Charlotte greeted the housekeeper. “Are you making those scrumptious cinnamon rolls, Mrs. Umdahl? In that case, I’m very glad we’ve come.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The usually somber housekeeper smiled at the praise. “Why don’t you two have a seat while I let Mrs. Cole know you’re here?”
Charlotte sat down in an upholstered chair, but Tessa remained standing. The cinnamon-scented air mixed with the cloying scent of lilies on the table and caused her roiling stomach to churn anew.
Tessa blinked to clear her watery vision. Momma and Daddy stared back at her from beneath the curved glass. Her heart squeezed. Her parents would have been so disappointed in her right now.
Mrs. Umdahl returned to the parlor. “Your sister will be down in a moment.”
“Thank you.” Tessa touched the cool wood of the frame containing her father’s photograph.
After Mrs. Umdahl left the room, Charlotte joined Tessa at the photographs. “What’s on your mind right now, Tessa?”
“Do you remember the big sycamore tree we had in the front yard?”
“Yes.” Charlotte smiled. “I recall you were fond of climbing it, much to Mother’s dismay.”
“It was my playhouse. Sometimes it was a fort, and I was a nurse tending the wounded soldiers. Other times it was a castle, and I was a princess fighting off trolls. And my favorite times it was my home, where I could live with all of the animals and plants as my friends.”
“It was a special place until it was hit by lightning.”
“And it died.” Tessa swallowed. “I came home from school one day, and Daddy had chopped it down.”
“Our yard looked naked.”
“I remember staring out the front window and thinking how strange the view was with the tree gone. I thought that tree was the strongest thing there was. I thought nothing could hurt it, but then it was gone. The roots were still there, but the branches and the trunk and the leaves were gone forever.” Tessa closed her eyes and let her mind carry her back. She could still hear the leaves rustling in the wind.
As Love Blooms Page 24