Lavished with Lavender - Valerie Comer Page 0,7
projects, and rearranged furniture. They’d better not haul anything else down to his space.
Down the hallway, electric screwdrivers buzzed as Marco and Alex installed grab bars in Nonna’s bathroom.
Out the kitchen window, several of Tony’s cousins weeded the garden. Jasmine had picked four heaping baskets of vine-ripened tomatoes. She and Peter operated an organic box program, supplying dozens of households with fresh produce. Tony’d love to get Antonio’s on their list, but the restaurant needed far more than Bridgeview Backyards could supply at this stage.
Jasmine came in the back door with an armful of lavender, the heady fragrance nearly overwhelming the pungent pasta sauce Tony had put on to simmer. She gave an appreciative sniff in his direction. “Ooh, that smells good.”
He grinned at her. “So does that. What are you going to do with all that?”
She laughed. “Do you think Nonna will guess that I’m trying to destress her if there are bouquets in every room?”
“She might. But then, she shouldn’t have planted so much of the stuff.”
“I like the way you think. Want some downstairs? You look like you could stand some tension relief, too.”
“Who, me?” Not that his innocent words would put Jasmine off for long. “Sure, I’ll take some. Not only that, but I could do a lavender panna cotta down at the restaurant one night this week.”
“Mmm. Sounds yum. There’s plenty left in that border, and more in the community garden next door. Just watch out for bees.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Jasmine wrinkled her nose at him. “Well, I wouldn’t want you to get stung. They’re busy little bees these days, storing up honey while the sun shines.”
“Which you’re going to steal from them.”
“But of course. It’s what beekeepers do. We’ve got a lot of clients at Bridgeview Backyards who are looking for local honey. Really helps with seasonal allergies.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have so many yards you can put beehives in.”
“Sure is. We’re not placing them where there are young kids, of course, but lots of our older homeowners love watching the bees in their gardens as much as they enjoy visiting birds. Total win-win.”
A baby cried from the other room, and Jasmine turned that direction on full alert. “Lillian’s awake. I’m amazed she slept this long with all the hubbub.”
“Where is she?”
“I tucked her bassinet in Nonna’s sewing room. Figured she’d be out of the way there. What else can they cram in that room?”
Tony shook his head with a grin. “Someone needs to do an intervention. You know that, right?”
She placed her hand on her chest and widened her eyes. “An intervention for me? You shouldn’t have.” The baby whimpered again then quieted.
“Ha. No. For Nonna and her hoarding ways. I’d say there’s no better time than now while she’s incapacitated.”
“Because she won’t be able to fight us off? You’re sneaky.”
“Everyone will be here more than usual, too.” Intruding on Tony’s downtime. Maybe he’d need a fresh bouquet of lavender every week. He lowered his voice. “I’m willing to bet the nurse would be happy to get in on it. Have you seen what she allowed to remain in the guest room? Or maybe you had a hand in it?”
His cousin shook his head. “Mom told me they cleaned out all but a couple of pieces of furniture, though, plus all the junk.”
“Did she tell you where they put it all? It’s now gracing my space downstairs.”
Jasmine wrinkled her nose. “Nice solution.”
“Yeah, for them. Not for me. Seriously, someone needs to get ruthless.”
“So this is going to be your fight?”
Tony sighed. “I don’t know. I feel like I don’t know Nonna well enough to take that on. You guys all grew up in and out of this house, but I only visited from Idaho a few times a year. I’m still finding my place.”
“Aw, Tony, I’m glad you’re here. Here, as in with Nonna, but also, just that you’re around, and we can all get to know each other as adults.”
“Yeah, me, too. There’s not much I can really do for Nonna, though. Especially with Kenna around.”
“Nonna still needs her family around her. Just do what you’ve always done, and keep things as normal as possible.”
“I’ll try, but Kenna really doesn’t like me.”
Jasmine chuckled. “What’s not to like?”
“You’d have to ask her, because I have no clue.” That wasn’t completely true. He’d been on the rude side when they first met, but he’d apologized. It was on her that she’d flipped off his effort at amends and continued to be abrasive. Tony lowered