next to the giant grill. “I love this garden. It’s the only thing I’ll miss about the house.”
“But you can have a garden anywhere, right? That was Mom’s theory. She said she was beautifying the Southwest one home at a time.”
He put the tray next to her, then stepped back as she unfolded foil to expose thick slabs of steak, aluminum-wrapped potatoes and a wire basket filled with sliced vegetables. She seasoned the meat with salt and pepper before setting the potatoes on the grill and closing the lid.
“Would you like something to drink? I have water, pop and iced tea.”
“House wine—” He caught himself. “I bet you’ve heard that hundreds of times.”
Her smile confirmed it. “Actually, the house wine for Mark’s Southern family was a Chateau Lafite something or other.”
“I can only guess that’s as expensive as it sounds. I’ll get the drinks.” He returned to the kitchen, filled two glasses with ice and grabbed both tea and pop. When he returned to the patio, she was standing at the beginning of a stone path that led to the yard, hands on her hips, watching Scooter. The dog jumped into the pool at one end, swam to the other, jumped out and gave a great shake, spraying water fifteen feet, then raced to the other end to do it again.
“His needs aren’t many.” Stephen handed her a glass and a can of pop, then filled his glass with tea. “You work in the yard yourself?”
“I drew up the plans, found the plants and dug every bed. I even did about half the fountain.” She gestured toward the back corner opposite the guesthouse and, with a silent prompt from him, started walking that way. He let her lead, just by a little, just enough that he could watch the dreamy fabric of her dress sway and shift with each step and the lean muscles in her calves contract and release.
It was a lovely sight.
* * *
The fountain was the part of the garden Macy had worked hardest on. It sat beneath a maple tree, with lush shade plants on all sides giving it an air of privacy. Though Mark had hired the nursery in town to build the rocky grotto, she’d been a full partner in the work. She’d gotten filthy, sore and bruised, and paid the men a bonus not to tell anyone. It had been her spineless way of going against Mark’s will, even if he’d never known it. And he definitely had never known. He’d never been one to let little rebellions pass unnoticed.
The same rocks that formed the fountain made a small patio in front, just big enough to hold two comfortable wooden chairs, painted dusky lavender to play off all the green. The paint was flaking, exactly the effect she’d wanted when she’d painted the wood, but Mark had declared it tacky and she’d redone it, giving it a glossy, perfect surface.
But surfaces were just illusion. They always cracked after a time.
“Wow. I’d stretch an extension cord out here and write on the laptop all day.” Stephen settled in one of the chairs and propped his feet on the low rim of rock encircling the pool that constantly refueled the fountain. If he noticed the spray that dotted the toes of his sneakers, he didn’t care.
“No extension cord necessary.” Settling herself in the second chair, she lifted a leaf of a giant elephant ear plant to reveal the electrical access hidden underneath.
“Very cool. My favorite place here.”
“Mine, too.” She sipped her pop and alternated between watching the water tumble and sneaking looks at him. Head bent back, long legs stretched out, he looked easy, loose. Comfortable. She liked the fact that his wardrobe was unimaginative, that his hair always stood on end, that his glasses made his eyes look a tiny bit bigger, a tiny bit more intense. That he wouldn’t fit into the Howards’s world. That he wouldn’t want to.
She especially liked that he’d noticed she’d had a rough time. She just wished she could tell him about it.
But then he would look at her the way Brent, Anne and her parents did, as if she weren’t quite sane. She could barely tolerate it from them. She didn’t think she could stand it from Stephen. After all, her family loved her anyway. They hadn’t walked away yet and never would.
Stephen, on the other hand, would be perfectly able to do so.
And maybe she really wasn’t quite sane.
“Did you entertain a lot when you lived