Amazing Gracie by Sherryl Woods Page A

It was your day off. I know for a fact that you were visiting your son in Washington.”
    “People talk.”
    “Aunt Delia, I suppose.”
    “She seems to think this one might have staying power.”
    “Aunt Delia needs to learn to mind her own business.”

    “She says you went out with her again last night.”
    “We had dinner, not an orgy.”
    Her gaze narrowed. “Watch your tongue. I don’t want to hear about any orgies you might be having.”
    “I’m not having any,” he protested, then gave up. “Tell me something.”
    Her expression instantly turned serious. “If I can.”
    “If you wanted a woman to learn to take time out to smell the flowers, what would you do? Send her roses?”
    “Never,” she declared at once. “Too ordinary.” Her expression turned dreamy. “If I had the money, which you do, I’d plant a whole garden for her.”
    “You can’t be serious.” He studied her expression. “You are serious, aren’t you?”
    “Of course. If she has her own garden, she can’t help but take the time to smell the flowers. And every time she does, you’ll be on her mind.”
    Kevin chuckled at the logic. “Perfect. Molly, you are a treasure.”
    “Well, of course I am.” She stood up and started for the kitchen, then paused. “One other thing, though.”
    “What’s that?” Kevin asked distractedly, already making plans.
    “Do the planting yourself. Don’t go hiring somebody to do it.”
    “Molly, I don’t have time to plant a garden, to say nothing of the fact that I don’t have the first clue how to go about it. Besides, it sounds an awful lot like hot, sweaty work.”
    “A little sweat won’t kill you. As for the rest, talk to Mr. Sparks. He can tell you what to do. He’s been landscaping this place for fifty years. Keeps it looking like a showplace, if you ask me.”

    There was a note of defiant pride in her voice that caught his attention. “It sounds as if you admire Mr. Sparks.”
    She blushed furiously. “Well, of course I do. He does fine work.”
    “I was thinking of a more personal sort of admiration.”
    “Oh, get on with your foolishness. I’m too old for what you’re suggesting.”
    “Molly, you’ll always be young. That’s your nature. Raymond walked off and left you on your own with those two sons of yours thirty years ago. You did a fine job of raising them, better than anyone in my family’s done with their kids, that’s for sure. If you’re interested in Mr. Sparks, go for it. He’s been a widower for some time now. He’d probably appreciate an invitation to dinner every now and again.”
    “I couldn’t,” she protested.
    “Of course you could. Do you know a finer cook in all of Westmoreland County?”
    “No, but—”
    “Ask him, Molly. If you don’t, I’ll put a bug in his ear about you.”
    “If you do, Kevin Patrick Daniels, I’ll take a switch to the seat of your britches the way I used to. Given how threadbare they are, it’ll hurt worse now than it did back then.”
    “Don’t make threats you can’t follow up on,” he teased. “I’m quicker now than I used to be.” His expression sobered. “Ask him, Molly. I know he’s spending a lot more time here than he needs to. There must be a reason for that, and I’m guessing that you’re it.”
    “He does stop in for lemonade at the end of the day,” she confessed.

    “Well, then, next time he does, just ask him to stay on for supper.”
    She grinned. “Maybe I will. In the meantime, you ask him about planting that garden. He’ll tell you what to do. He probably has everything you need in his greenhouse.”
    Before he could get on with his plan, though, Kevin had paperwork to finish up and a not unexpected visit from his cousin Helen. She almost always turned up after one of his more contentious encounters with her younger brother. Bobby Ray was a whiner and Helen always listened.
    “Kevin, what on earth did you say to Bobby Ray the other day?” she demanded without so much as