As Love Blooms

by Lorna Seilstad

  “You were so brave.” Charlotte took her hands. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “And they’ll never hurt you again, Tessa.” Hannah plucked another stick from her dress. “Lincoln and Edward returned from the jail a little while ago. They said Marjorie, Clem, and Albert have been charged with kidnapping. All three of them will be going to prison for a long time.”

  Tessa expected to feel satisfied at that sort of news, but instead a profound sadness swept over her.

  “Are you all right?” Charlotte asked.

  “It’s such a waste. Joe really loved Marjorie and she really loved him, but now they’ll be separated for years.”

  Lincoln knocked on her door. “Edward wanted me to tell you he’s sorry he ever introduced you to Marjorie Walker, and he regrets all that he’s put you through.” He frowned. “I’m not sure what he means by that, but if you want me to kick him out of the house for good, I will.”

  “No. We all make mistakes.” She sighed. “I know I certainly have.”

  “All right, I’ll let him stay.” Lincoln started to leave, then returned. “I almost forgot. Joel said Reese will be fine. He’s asleep now, and Joel wants him to stay that way for an hour or two.” Lincoln glanced at her clothes. “I’m not sure that will be enough time, though, for you to make yourself presentable.”

  Tessa tossed a bed pillow at the door frame, but Lincoln dodged it.

  She and her sisters giggled, and it had never felt better to laugh.

  Tessa eased the door open to one of Aunt Sam’s guest rooms. Reese, propped on a plethora of pillows, smiled at her.

  “May I come in?”

  “Of course.”

  She left the door ajar, padded across the thick rug, and set the vase of lemon-scented verbena on the nightstand. “Joel said you’ll be fine, but you need to take it easy for a day or two.” She fingered one of the long, glassy leaves. “What will Mr. Nussbaumer say about that?”

  Reese hiked a shoulder. “I’m not sure I even have a job at Como anymore.”

  “Why? Because I wrecked the motorcycle in the planter?”

  “No, not because of that.” Reese chuckled and took her hand. He brushed his thumb against the bandage on her wrist. “I told Mr. Nussbaumer everything, Tessa. I told him about you and your plans, and I told him how you helped garner support for the conservatory project.”

  She stared into his denim-blue eyes. “Why did you tell him?”

  “I couldn’t live a lie.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said he needed some time to consider everything.” Reese swallowed. “I’m so sorry that I hurt you, and I will support you in whatever you choose to do. If you still want to go back to the university, I’ll wait if you’ll have me.”

  She looked down at their entwined fingers and pulled away. “Reese, I wasn’t completely truthful with you either.” As briefly as she could, she explained her expulsion from school. “I wanted so badly to prove myself that I justified my own lies. But there’s more.”

  “Go on.”

  “When you’re being held captive, you tend to have a lot of time to think.”

  “Soul searching?”

  She nodded. “I was putting my hope in you, and as good a man as you are, you are still a man, and it was only a matter of time before you let me down.” He started to speak, but she held up her hand. “What I’m saying is, I should have put my hope in God. Only he has the ability to move all the mountains in my life.”

  He grinned. “We make quite a pair.”

  “We certainly do.”

  Footsteps in the hallway were followed by a knock on the doorjamb. Aunt Sam stepped inside. “There’s someone who’d like to speak to you both.”

  Mr. Nussbaumer entered, his hat in his hands, and Aunt Sam slipped back out. “It is gut to know you are okay, Reese.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “I wanted to personally tell you that I’ve given Nels a new position.”

  Reese cleared his throat. “I understand, sir.”

  The master gardener pointed to an empty chair. “May I?”

  “Yes, please.” Tessa reached for the coffeepot beside the bed and poured him a cup. “If you prefer tea, I can have it brought up.”

  “No thank you, Miss Gregory.” He accepted the cup, then turned toward Reese. “When Nels went to check on Carver’s Cave after your experience today, he caught a park employee delivering another artifact.”

  “Who?” Reese sipped from his own cup.

  Mr. Nussbaumer’s brow furled. “The current head gardener at Indian Mounds Park, the man who was ill.”

  “I should have known.” Reese pushed himself up in the bed. “I thought it was strange that he said he’d never been inside Carver’s Cave when it was in his own park.”

  “Yes, that would be odd.” The superintendent crossed his arms over his chest. “I cannot tolerate dishonesty, so Nels will be replacing him.”

  Tessa clenched her hands in front of her. He couldn’t tolerate dishonesty. That didn’t bode well for Reese.

  Mr. Nussbaumer stood. “So I will expect you, as my employee, to always tell me the truth.”

  “You want me? I still have the job?”

  “Ja.” The master gardener smiled. “Anyone who risks everything to clear his conscience is a gut, honest man.” He turned to Tessa. “And you agree?”

  “Yes, sir.” She flashed Reese a triumphant grin. He had probably lost any chance at the head gardener’s position, but at least he didn’t lose his job.

  “Reese tells me I owe you a debt of gratitude. He said that without your help, my conservatory might still be a dream.”

  “I was happy to help.” The old Tessa might have taken advantage of this situation and pressed Mr. Nussbaumer to give her a position, but the new Tessa refused to do anything that might hurt Reese.

  “The garden you designed, it is gut, ja?”

  “I think so, but Reese deserves as much credit as I. Even more so.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I can see his hand throughout the garden, but the soul of the garden is yours.”

  Tessa didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t seem to mean it as a compliment. It was more of a statement of fact.

  “Miss Gregory, I have been hardheaded about many things, but I like to think of my artistry as progressive. You worked alongside Reese and handled the job well. You also clearly see a garden as a canvas, and there are any number of places where you could work. However, if you are still interested, I believe you and Mr. King make a formidable team.”

  Her heart soared. “Are you offering me a position?”

  He laughed and placed a hand on Reese’s leg. “If you can handle working with this sloth.”

  “Oh, I can.”

  “Very well. Then your first task is to get him up and about. It wouldn’t bode well for the conservatory’s new head gardener to miss the groundbreaking.”

  After they’d profusely thanked him, Mr. Nussbaumer said his goodbyes and left the two of them alone.

  Dazed, Tessa walked to the window and watched Mr. Nussbaumer leave. Clouds had rolled in during the afternoon, and a soft rain pelted the window. “How did this happen, Reese?”

  “God moved your mountain.”

  The creaking of bedsprings made her turn. “What are you doing out of bed?”

  “Kissing the woman I love.”

  He closed the distance between them and took her hand. Raising her bandaged wrist to his lips, he kissed the sensitive flesh above it. For the first time, she noticed a scar on his forefinger. How had it gotten there? She wanted to know. She wanted to know everything about Reese King.

  “Better?” His voice was thick.

  “I think I hurt here too.” She pointed to her cheek, then to her ear. “And here.”

  He brushed kisses as soft as pussy willows in the places she’d indicated. Heat pooled in her stomach. Had her heart ever beat so fast?

  “And here.” She drew her finger along her lower lip.


  He placed his hands on her waist and brought his lips to hers, kissing her again and again. He tasted of coffee and happiness, and Tessa’s heart swelled.

  This was an adventure she never wanted to end.

  Epilogue

  SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1915

  Tugging on the pearl-studded neckline of her peach-colored dress, Tessa glanced at Aunt Sam and the rest of her family. The fragrance of myriad flowers filled the humid air inside the conservatory while huge palm fronds hung overhead.

  “Stop fussing.” Charlotte batted Tessa’s hand away from her dress. “You’d think this was your wedding day.”

  “It’s nearly as important.” Tessa scanned the crowd inside the conservatory for Reese. “Where is he? It’s almost time to cut the ribbon.”

  Spanning sixty thousand square feet, the conservatory was a marvel of steel and glass. Its purpose was twofold: first, to provide a year-round area to display the flora and fauna, and second, to provide an adequate site to winter hot-weather plants like the palms and ferns.

  Arched wings extended out from the conservatory’s center section, giving the crystal palace an airy, elegant feel. Today Superintendent Nussbaumer would personally guide visitors on their maiden tour of the exhibits. Reese had raised chrysanthemums in sixty-seven varieties, and Tessa had supervised the arrangement of potted plants in the hourglass bed and at the edge of the curving path to the aquarium. They’d set up rough pine tables and lined the straight walkways of the conservatory with hundreds of mums.

  Tessa turned toward Aunt Sam. How different her life might have been without her. She’d become their tree of strength, and today she beamed with pride.

  She glanced at her sisters too. Charlotte, ripe with child, settled her hand on her stomach while Joel jostled the toddler they’d adopted only nine months ago. Alice Ann beamed at her daddy and new brother.

  Tessa’s gaze locked with Hannah’s—the sister who’d taken on the university and gained Tessa the right to return if she so desired. But to Hannah’s dismay, Tessa decided not to finish her formal education and to remain here at Como Park with Reese, where every flower was her teacher.

  Hannah smiled at her, and Tessa blinked threatening tears away. When their parents had died, it was Hannah who had been the one to make them all promise to support each other’s dreams. Since then, Hannah had become an attorney, Charlotte a chef, and Tessa a gardener, but were those ever their only dreams? Tessa didn’t think so. They’d also dreamed of love. Each sister had her heart’s desire fulfilled—at least for now.

  With the Gregory sisters, who knew what they’d decide to tackle next.

  “There’s the man of the hour.” Lincoln lifted his son, now almost two, from Hannah’s arms. “And he’s looking quite dapper.”

  Tessa spotted Reese too. He wore the new pinstriped suit and felt hat she’d purchased.

  Her husband—and he was entering with Mr. Nussbaumer.

  Last summer she and Reese had married in the Arts and Crafts garden they’d planted together at Como. They’d watched as the panes of glass were added to the conservatory’s dome following the ceremony, and they’d honeymooned with their family in Hawaii.

  Brother Taylor’s words still echoed in her mind. For a seed to grow, it must become completely undone. The shell cracks. The insides must spill out, and everything changes forever. What comes next is a miracle, and it happens over and over in the gardens of the earth, as well as in the gardens of our hearts so that love can bloom.

  Taking her hand, Reese drew her onto the podium beside him. Mr. Nussbaumer addressed the crowd, welcoming those who came, talking about this building—his dream—and thanking all those who had a hand in making the dream a reality. As Mr. Nussbaumer concluded, the orchestra struck up a waltz.

  Reese pressed his lips to Tessa’s ear, making chill bumps rise on her neck. “Congratulations, Mrs. King. You did it.”

  “We did it.”

  Joy exploded inside her. God had blessed them beyond anything even she could have imagined, and everywhere she looked, love had bloomed.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you, my reader friends, for joining me on the Gregory sisters’ journey. Your readership means so much to me, and I thank God for each of you. I thought you might enjoy learning a little bit more about this book’s unsung hero.

  By the turn of the century, parks had taken the forefront in municipal planning. Not only did cities want to present themselves as beautiful and cultured, but they also wanted to offer inexpensive recreation to the citizens. A few cities in America led the way in this effort, including New York, Chicago, Saint Paul, Des Moines, Saint Louis, and San Francisco.

  History books cannot possibly acknowledge all of the men and women who contributed to making America what it is today. One of those unsung heroes was Fred Nussbaumer.

  Born in Baden, Germany, in 1850, George Friedrich Nussbaumer learned to be a landscape gardener in his father’s greenhouse. He lived and worked in London, Paris, Russia, and Germany before coming to America in the late 1870s. He was superintendent of parks for Saint Paul in 1891. He served until his retirement in 1922, over thirty years later.

  H. W. S. Cleveland, Nussbaumer’s predecessor, thought that the park’s main objective was preservation. Cleveland felt that parks should be a place for citizens to escape city life and get in touch with nature. He believed in interfering with nature as little as possible.

  Nussbaumer agreed with Cleveland’s philosophy, but he also strongly advocated for a wide variety of free or reasonably priced recreational activities, services, and educational opportunities for park visitors. He understood the importance of having both floral displays and untouched natural areas. He knew the people paid for the park system and wanted it to be available to everyone.

  Under his direction, parks became recreational and cultural centers, and his model was copied throughout the country. His crown jewel, the conservatory, is one of the few remaining Victorian-style glass houses still in existence today.

  Every year, thousands of visitors flock to Como Park, the Como Zoo, and, of course, the restored Marjorie McNeely Conservatory. This year in November, the conservatory will celebrate its centennial. I can’t wait to attend.

  For more information about Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, visit www.comozooconservatory.org.

  Fan favorite Lorna Seilstad is the author of the Lake Manawa Summers series, When Love Calls, and While Love Stirs. As a history buff and antique collector, she brings history back to life using a generous dash of humor. She has won several online writing awards and is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives with her family in Iowa.

  Books by Lorna Seilstad

  LAKE MANAWA SUMMERS

  Making Waves

  A Great Catch

  The Ride of Her Life

  THE GREGORY SISTERS

  When Love Calls

  While Love Stirs

  As Love Blooms

  LornaSeilstad.com

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