Hope's Garden

by Lyn Cote

  “I’ll go to her.” Cat hurried down the hall, then slipped through the opening between two white curtains.

  Laurette held out her hand.

  Cat grasped it in both of hers, then leaned down to kiss Laurette’s sunken cheek. Her cousin’s loveliness had taken a beating. Her long, blond hair was flattened like a cornfield after a hail storm, and her large blue eyes had gray smudges underneath. Cat said what she thought, “You’re a mess.”

  Laurette chuckled weakly. “Please don’t mince words. Tell me exactly what you see.”

  “Don’t tease. You scared me—us—to death.” Still holding her cousin’s hand, Cat stroked a few errant strands of hair away from Laurette’s pale face. Touching her reassured Cat that everything was all right.

  Laurette smiled. “I’m sorry. I still can’t believe being pregnant has hit me like this. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Cat nodded. “But you’ve been so miserable. I just wish I could do something for you.”

  Laurette squeezed her hand. “Help keep Chuck’s spirits up. I think he’s more worried than he should be.”

  “What did Dr. Nelson say?”

  “I’m just one of those unfortunate women who, though perfectly healthy, doesn’t have an easy time being pregnant.”

  “I thought he said you’d be over your morning sickness by now.”

  Laurette blinked her eyes as though warding off tears. “Most women are, but evidently not me. I don’t remember ever feeling this weak. Don’t repeat that to Chuck.”

  Handing her friend a tissue, Cat struggled not to worry Laurette by looking too concerned herself.

  Laurette wiped her tear-moistened eyes. “How did Gage’s first day with you go? I worried about you being upset. I know how you hate surprises.”

  “We didn’t argue.” Cat mentally crossed her fingers in the hope this would continue. “For a first day together, it went fine. Farrell worked hard.”

  “Glad to hear you say that, partner.” Farrell, a step behind Chuck, entered the curtained area. His grin teased Cat as though daring her to say more.

  “Well, good.” Chuck eyed them both.

  Cat hoped Farrell didn’t think she’d been talking behind his back and was relieved when two attendants entered to wheel Laurette toward the elevator.

  Cat and Farrell trailed behind the procession. When Cat glanced up at Farrell, she found him studying her.

  In an undertone, he said, “This has been a hectic day, but we’ll work things out. I have a lot of ideas for Hope’s Garden, but we don’t have to talk business now.”

  Cat’s rising mood lowered. He had ideas for the nursery? What ideas? But her hands recalled his gentle touch. She should have pulled away. She had never let someone, almost a stranger, touch her like that. Did he think she was a helpless female because she’d shown emotion?

  The next morning in the nursery sales area, Cat stood glaring at Farrell. Another sunny morning mocked her. Inside her, storm clouds gathered. “You what?”

  “I preinterviewed a person while you were gone,” Farrell repeated. He faced her, his back propped against the open front door of the nursery, his black-brown hair tousled by the spring wind and his pine-green eyes watching her react.

  Did he think this was a game? “I thought I explained yesterday how hiring should be handled.” Crossing her arms, Cat tried to keep her response low-key, but firm.

  “I didn’t hire or fire anyone. She showed up, asked for an application. When she was done, I read it and asked her a few preliminary questions.”

  Every word he spoke so calmly made perfect sense, but she didn’t like any of them. Having this man sticking his fingers into her business…correction, their business… She took a deep breath and tried to ignore the ungainly rhythm of her heart. “What’s her name?”

  “Thetis Quinn.”

  “What?” Frustrated, she raked her fingers through her ponytail. Didn’t he remember anything she’d said yesterday about the ad?

  “You heard me.”

  To Cat, the name spelled faculty wife in black capital letters. How could she say to her fresh-from-the-big-city partner, but I’m a “townie?” He couldn’t be aware of the timeless tensions between the townspeople of Eden and the faculty and students of the one-hundred-year-old, small liberal arts college. She never felt at ease around the college people.

  From behind, Cat heard a breathy feminine voice ask, “Did I hear my name?”

  Cat turned to view Thetis Quinn. Her premonition appeared to be accurate.

  Slightly older than Cat, Thetis wore small round spectacles like Ben Franklin, no makeup, a denim jumper over a madras shirt. Untamed, curly hair the color of red wheat touched her shoulders. Beaded earrings, transparent balls of amber and red, dangled from her ears.

  The woman held out her hand. “I’m Thetis. And I would love to work here.”

  Cat shook her hand, then took a step back toward the desk behind the counter. “I haven’t had time to read your application.” She didn’t want to be unfair to the woman. Maybe she would pan out.

  Cat observed that Farrell hung back. Was he going to let her do the interview? Had the preinterview been enough for him?

  Thetis smiled, showing winning dimples. “I just wanted to introduce myself. I know today is busy for you, but my husband’s buried alive correcting term papers. When I saw your ad this morning, it was kismet.”

  “Oh,” Cat said cautiously. She could feel Farrell’s concentration on her, not Thetis. She hated the warm blush he aroused in her. She unnecessarily straightened a few papers on the counter beside her.

  Thetis continued enthusiastically, “Yes, I’ve been so restless lately. Unable to concentrate on preparing my lecture notes. Everything has been dry as dust to me—even eighteenth-century English love poetry! Can you believe that? Then I saw your ad. Hope’s Garden—what a glorious name!”

  “Oh?” Cat asked, not feeling good about this. Eighteenth-century love poetry? How did that prepare someone for gardening?

  Farrell stood just behind the woman, trying to hide a grin. Very funny, Farrell.

  “Because here I am blooming with life.” Thetis patted the front of her jumper. “Just two months. I’m not showing yet. But I feel so…Earth Mother. And suddenly I knew I needed to be around growing things. Fecund earth called to me!”

  “Really?” Cat said, not knowing what fecund meant, but suspicious of it. It sounded like a dirty word. She hated not knowing more from books, but she’d never been good at school. She bet Farrell knew what fecund mean. He stopped hiding his grin. He was enjoying this. The warmth of Cat’s flushed face increased.

  “So I came right over to apply. I really want this job.” Thetis motioned grandly toward the nearest greenhouse. “It will be perfect, and the growing season will be over before I deliver. I’m only teaching part-time till May first, then I’m off for a year. But working here is just what I need to be doing while I’m carrying my first child.”

  “But do you have any gardening experience?” Cat asked, trying to keep up with the woman’s enthusiasm.

  “Yes! My own dear mother always says she ‘raised’ me in a garden!”

  “Really?” Cat walked to her desk and leaned one hand down on it. In this conversation, she needed something solid as an anchor.

  Farrell advanced, still lingering behind Thetis, still smiling. Cat wished she could wipe that smile off his face. Where was a lemon cream pie for throwing when one was really needed?

  “She is a horticulturist, and my father is a botanist! I’ve worked with plants all my life!” Thetis pointed to one of the barrel planters beside the open door and began reciting the Latin names of the flowering pink-purple-and-silver plants in it, “Ageratum houstonianum, Dianthus, Lobularia maritima, Sempervivum tectorum.”

  “Well…good,” Cat stammered, knowing she’d lost control of the interview. She pictured the yellow cream pie splatting on Farrell’s face, dripping down his square chin. She swallowed with diffic
ulty.

  “The name of your nursery…Hope’s Garden, such symbolism for an expectant mother!” Thetis gazed at Cat hopefully.

  “Uh-huh,” Cat muttered. Outside, two more cars pulled in. A friend from church was filling in for the temporary assistant who was home with sick twins. Another frantic day. She needed to get this “interview” over.

  “I couldn’t resist coming right out.” Thetis leaned forward.

  “We’re glad you did.” Farrell ambled forward and leaned against the counter.

  Ignoring him, Cat interjected, “Don’t you think this might be too much for you as your pregnancy progresses? There’s a lot of lifting, bending and stooping….”

  “I haven’t had a bit of trouble! Not a sick moment!” Thetis opened her arms wide as though hugging the world.

  Cat took a step back. “But wouldn’t you rather spend time in your garden at home?”

  Farrell folded his arms, still giving Cat that teasing look.

  “We live in an apartment. I have only a window box! Real estate prices have jumped so high in the last two years since the Venture Corporation moved here. The money I’d earn here this summer will augment the remainder of a down payment for our first house!”

  Farrell straightened up. “I don’t think we can say no then, can we, Cat?” His voice held a hint of amusement.

  “It’s just minimum wage. Are you sure?” Cat objected futilely. How had she let Farrell get her into this fix? She needed time to think this over!

  Ignoring her hesitance, Farrell shook the lady’s hand. “You’re hired, Thetis.”

  Cat gritted her teeth against putting into words what she was thinking about Farrell.

  Thetis squeezed Farrell’s hand, then jigged over and squeezed Cat’s. “Thank you, but please call me Hetty. All my friends do. I’m teaching only two night classes this semester. When should I start?”

  Fuming inside, Cat said firmly, “Tomorrow.” She hoped twenty-four hours would be enough time for her to cool off and be able to welcome Hetty properly.

  Hetty thanked them both again and popped out to her little red foreign car and drove off.

  Hands on her hips, Cat stared at Farrell pursing her lips to hold back hot words. But the angry red scar on his cheek tugged at her, softening her exasperation.

  Farrell said mildly, “That takes care of hiring a full-time employee. The ad did the trick.”

  “How could you hire a space angel like that?” Cat asked. She had to admit she’d been impressed by Hetty’s enthusiasm, but her partner had just been lucky.

  “She’s eager, pleasant, knowledgeable—”

  “Just being able to recite the Latin names of the stock,” Cat growled, “doesn’t mean a person knows anything about working at a nursery.”

  “Hey, she was ‘raised’ in a garden by a horticulturist and a botanist.” His smile broadened.

  Was Farrell going to be just as controlling as her father had been? Men liked to run things, be in charge. It was a fact of nature. Capitulating, Cat slumped down into her chair behind the desk.

  Farrell spoke briskly, “We need to get outside now. So for the record, I won’t call in an ad or even preinterview anyone else without you. But we needed to hire more help and it’s still early in the season. And Laurette doesn’t look like she’ll be back anytime soon, so we may need someone else. I know you said Eden’s a small town, but it’s time you stopped thinking small-town. With Venture Corporation here and two more software corporations near to relocating in Eden, you need to start thinking bigger.”

  Cat stared up at him. What did he know about Eden or her family’s hard-won business reputation? Her father had killed himself to build up this nursery. But she said coolly, “My main concern is to keep my—our bottom line in mind. Expanding too quickly could put the business in jeopardy. And for your information, Hope’s Garden has been and still is the best nursery in this county.”

  “Fine. But your clientele is changing and so must Hope’s Garden.”

  Listening to the buzz of evening visitors in the hospital hallway and nearby rooms, Cat fidgeted on the chair beside Laurette’s bed. Laurette had begun having contractions and had been kept at the hospital for observation. Now, Wednesday evening, after two days of hospital food, Laurette had requested a hot fudge sundae, so Chuck and Farrell had left to buy her one. Cat was relieved Farrell was out of her face. At work, away from work, she couldn’t get away from him. In her mind, she kept seeing him tell Hetty she was hired. And it irked her more every time.

  Laurette stared at Cat. “You don’t look happy. Is it me or Gage?”

  Still worried about Laurette but unwilling to show it, Cat made a face. “Farrell.”

  “Gage is a nice guy. Just give him a chance.”

  “I am.” Do I have a choice? Cat switched topics. “Are you sure you’re ready to go home?”

  “I’ll be fine. I just have to stay off my feet, so I don’t start having contractions again.” Laurette continued, beginning to sound glum, “Tomorrow I’ll be home and on the couch for the rest of the month.”

  “You sound as cheerful as I feel.” Cat had mentally crossed Laurette off for the rest of the summer as far as working at the nursery. She’d ask the two people who were filling in if they could stay for the season. In the morning, Cat would face day four of the partnership. What would Farrell spring on her tomorrow? “You don’t like staying home anymore than I like adjusting to a partner.”

  Laurette grimaced broadly.

  A large, raw-boned woman wearing blue jeans and an intricately quilted vest over a denim shirt, hustled into the room. “Now don’t do that. Your face might freeze that way!” The woman chuckled.

  “Aunt Bet!” Laurette and Cat exclaimed in unison. Aunt Bet, a lifelong neighbor of Laurette’s, was the closest thing they had to a grandmother.

  Aunt Bet, sixtyish, robust, gray-blond, hugged first Laurette, then Cat. “Where are your menfolk? I want to get a close look at that new fellow, the handsome devil who’s turning heads in town.”

  Handsome devil! If you only knew! Cat gave up her seat to Bet, moving onto the wide windowsill next to it.

  “They went to get ice cream,” Laurette replied. “Thanks for coming.”

  Aunt Bet took Cat’s chair. “I’ve stayed away. I knew the whole neighborhood would be in to see how you are!” She delved into her hand-quilted denim purse, pulled out a pack of gum and offered each of them a green-wrapped stick.

  Bet chewed gum incessantly and always offered it to others. The scent of spearmint made Cat’s mouth water, but she shook her head.

  Bet put the extra stick away. “Laurette, your mother called from Florida. We talked it over. Chuck can drop you off in the mornings. You’re spending days at my place until you’re on your feet again.”

  “Oh, that’s so sweet,” Laurette exclaimed, her blue eyes lighting up. “But I can’t tie you down like that.”

  “Not to worry.” Aunt Bet held up her hand. “If I have to go out, May Perkins or Doris Lutter will pop over. All your neighbors want to help out. We have nothing better to do.”

  “I don’t believe that!” Laurette objected. “You’re busy all the time quilting and working at the library with kids.”

  Aunt Bet glanced sideways. “Cat, you look like you’re sucking a lemon. What is the matter?”

  “She’s adjusting to having a partner,” Laurette tattled sweetly.

  “But such a partner!” Aunt Bet teased, patting her breast pocket as if to say, “Be still my heart.”

  “I wish Gage could hear you say that. Sometimes I think he’s self-conscious about the scar.” Laurette sighed.

  Did good looks mean so much? Even to Aunt Bet who’d stayed single her whole life? Cat muttered, “Go ahead. Make fun of me. You’ve never let a man tell you what to do!”

  “That’s why I never married or got myself into a partnership with a man. What’s he done to get your garters twisted so soon?”

  Cat smiled grudgingly. “He put a help-wa
nted ad in the paper without asking me.” Her complaint sounded trivial to her own ears.

  “I wondered about that ad,” Aunt Bet mused.

  Encouraged, Cat jumped up. “That’s just it! I always ask around before putting an ad in the paper. And you won’t believe who he hired full-time.”

  “Who?”

  “A college professor, Thetis Quinn.” Cat put her hands on her hips.

  “I know her.” Aunt Bet smiled.

  “You do?” Cat asked in surprise.

  “She joined my quilting circle this winter. She’s very talented and a lot of fun. But about this new partner, you never were one to like change, any change,” Aunt Bet said sagely. “Give the guy a chance.” Aunt Bet turned to Laurette. “And you’re getting started on that baby quilt tomorrow bright and early!”

  “Oh, thank you! I forgot you promised to help me!” Laurette beamed.

  A particle of envy stuck in Cat’s throat. Laurette was married to a wonderful guy. Now Aunt Bet would help her make a quilt for her first baby. Did Laurette know how lucky she was?

  Laurette spoke up, “Stop frowning, Cat. You’re overreacting. You needed to hire more help. Gage found someone.”

  Was Laurette right? Was she making a big deal out of something small?

  Aunt Bet pointed a finger at Cat. “You know, your dad, God rest his soul, was the most bullheaded man I ever met.”

  “You got that right.” Shoving her hands in her jeans pockets, Cat swallowed her chagrin with effort.

  “So this Gage Farrell should be easy for you after working with your dad.”

  “You got that right.” Cat repeated, grinning wryly in spite of herself.

  Aunt Bet chuckled. “Remember, ‘Men—you can’t live with them. You can’t live without them.’”

  At that moment, Chuck and Farrell walked in with two white bags. They proceeded to lift out five, plastic-domed sundaes. The rich fragrance of fudge filled the room deliciously.

  “I told you someone would show up while we were gone.” With a warm smile, Chuck handed Bet the fifth sundae and a red plastic spoon.

  “See! Men even come in handy sometimes.” Bet nodded her thanks and took a big bite of whipped cream and nuts.