You should’ve taken her flowers.”
“You’re right. I’ll do it tomorrow. You can deal with yours, get your shower, ice your shoulder. I’ll deal with dinner. And we’ll get seriously buzzed on champagne.”
“I can get behind that plan.” She reached over for his hand. “The day may have started on a really shitty note, but we’re going to end it happy, well-fed, and a little bit drunk.”
* * *
While her bruises healed, Darby talked to the Asheville police, the prosecutor, dealt with reporters from the Lakeview Weekly to reporters from Asheville, from Raleigh, and from the Associated Press.
The original case against Dr. and Mrs. Graham Bigelow had generated considerable media at the time. The current one dredged all of that up while layering on the new.
She knew Zane dealt with reporters, too, just as she knew both of them breathed a sigh of relief when the news cycle switched to some other scandal.
As June wound down toward July, she finished up work at Zane’s, squeezed in the stonework between guests at Emily’s last bungalow, started the Marsh job on the lake.
With the help of her crew, and the surprise that Zane knew his way around a nail gun, she had her equipment shed under roof, and a sweet little garden shed completed and stocked, and the skeleton of her greenhouse erected.
Maybe she’d neglected the interior of the house for now, but she built her business, client by client.
She worked with two of those clients on a pretty Saturday afternoon while their little boy took a nap in the shade.
“When you deadhead?” She demonstrated to both Charlene and Joe. “You not only tidy up the plant or bush, you encourage new blooms. And your herbs there? You want to pinch off the flowers.”
“Oh, but they’re pretty,” Charlene objected.
“But the plant’s energy’s going to the flower instead of the vegetation, and once they flower, your leaves can get bitter. You also want to pinch back the plant to encourage it to fill out. Look here at the branch point, now count up a couple leaves, pinch off the stem. You’re going to use that in something you cook, and your basil’s going to be stimulated at the same time. It’s going to grow back even better.”
“We’ve just been taking off a few leaves here and there,” Joe explained.
“Yeah, so I see.”
He studied the plants through his horn-rim glasses. “And that’s why they look a little straggly?”
“Yeah. Try this way, and by the time you want to harvest, you’re going to have tons.”
“If we do, I’m going to make you pesto.”
Darby angled her head at Joe. “I’ll take it.”
She moved around the yard with them, giving advice, delighted that they both took notes.
“Uh-oh. The boss is waking up. I’ve got him, babe.” Joe tucked away his notebook as he went to his little boy.
“We really appreciate you coming over just to talk us through some of this, again. Your crew is so helpful.”
“It’s what we’re here for.”
“Your bruises are healing. Any trouble with the shoulder?”
“None. It’s down to that ugly yellow stage, maybe still a little stiff first thing in the morning, but not as much. And it works out quick.”
“The advantage of being active and in shape,” Charlene declared. “We were surprised to get an invitation for the Fourth.”
“Why? You and Britt are friends. You’re basically my doctor at this stage.”
“Now that we know the whole story of what happened in this house, we thought Britt and her family would want to keep their distance.”
“You had nothing to do with it. Neither did the house.”
“When I think he might have broken in that night. The baby. Babies,” she said, with a hand pressed protectively to her bump.
“Don’t. He’s back where he belongs, and he’s going to stay there.”
“Joe keeps telling me exactly that. I wonder—Even in a friendly, safe community like this, there can be trouble. I wonder if you’d consider teaching a self-defense course.”
“Oh, I’m not qualified.”
Charlene let out a wide-eyed laugh. “Are you kidding me? Think about it. Maybe over the winter when your work slows down.”
“I’ll think about that if you and Joe think about getting a composter.”
“I know we should.” Charlene let out a sigh. “It feels like another chore.”
“You’ll be amazed how it pays you back. I’ve got to get to Zane, and I have one more stop to make. Party planning in full swing. We’ll see you on the Fourth.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
She glanced across the street before she got in her truck. Even knowing there would be