The View from Alameda Island - Robyn Carr Page 0,79
but we’re not going to execute during winter. I’m planning a couple of rooftop gardens and some yards for new construction, but planting will be minimal until March. Then we’ll blast through months of being swamped. That’s my favorite time of year.”
He talked about the catching up he would do, designs he would create, bids he would prepare over the winter. Taxes, there were always taxes to take care of, though he had a trusted accountant. Running a business meant the accumulation of plenty of paperwork.
The doorbell blessedly did not ring. They talked about his work slowing down when the planting season grew less hectic. Her business, on the other hand, grew more hectic as the holidays approached. “Food is a very big business right up to January. I look forward to things slowing down a little bit. But I’m enjoying work so much more than ever before.”
“What was the big change?” he asked.
“The change was me, and it was a complete accident. I always felt like I didn’t really belong. I felt apart, as though I wasn’t like the other women in the food lab. As though I didn’t have the same kind of struggles. You know—because I had a cleaning lady and a successful husband. It was an embarrassment of riches. Then I did the most unexpected thing. I stopped protecting myself and told them the truth. That my husband was abusive, that I was separated and filing for divorce. And they swarmed around me with comfort and support that had been there all along. I was the one who held myself apart. We started socializing—lunch now and then, going out for happy hour after work sometimes. I am friends now with people I’ve known for years.
“In the spring, I’m going to have a garden,” she went on. “I’m going to plant flowers and vegetables. Maybe you can give me a few pointers. I’ve never had anything to say about the yard. I’ve never had a garden of my own.”
“I can help with that.”
“At your busiest time?”
“There will always be time for you,” he said. He put his wineglass on the coffee table. Then he slid his arm along the back of the sofa and rested it gently on her shoulder, giving her a squeeze. “Come a little closer, Lauren.”
She didn’t hesitate. She slid toward him just as he leaned toward her. He touched his lips softly to hers.
“We’ve managed to go very slowly but we’re both feeling it. I’m definitely feeling it,” he said. “And I think you are, too.”
“I thought it would be safer and less complicated if—”
“If all the legal crap was behind us? If that’s what you want, I can do that, but there’s a good chance our exes are going to drag this out as long as possible. And there is absolutely no possibility I’m ever going to live under the same roof with Pamela again. I’m pretty sure you’re finished with the doctor, too. If you’re not, all you have to do is tell me...”
“Oh, I’m finished. But I wouldn’t want anyone to think...”
“That we had an affair?” He took her glass from her hand and put it beside his on the table. “There’s almost nothing we can do to control what people think no matter what we do. But the truth is, I fell for you the minute I saw you. Way back in the church garden, before we knew anything about each other. If you hadn’t been so vulnerable, I might’ve been a little more aggressive. That’s not because that’s in my nature. It’s not. But I wanted to get to know you better right away. I wanted to spend time with you. Then he hurt you and I had to keep a safe distance from you, to protect you. I knew you couldn’t deal with your issues plus a rambunctious guy. But no matter what we do or how long we keep a polite distance, people will think what they want to think. Just like your husband did.”
“This really wasn’t in my plan,” she whispered. “I wasn’t looking for a man.”
“I know. And I was planning to be a lonely old bachelor. And anyone with a brain or anyone who has read an advice column will tell you, don’t move very fast because the rebound lover usually doesn’t work out. But that hasn’t changed how I feel. I want to take you up into the hills to see the fall foliage before it all freezes off and there isn’t