I had been hooked ever since.
She had gifted me her exquisite hardback copies shortly before her death and they were my most prized possessions. He had not only written at length about his love of winter flowers and how a garden should have enough interest to tempt you from your fireside during the colder months, but also about his fun ways when it came to planting bulbs.
‘I’m intrigued,’ said Luke.
‘Good,’ I laughed, ‘I’m pleased, and I can guarantee you’ll be thrilled in a few months.’
‘You aren’t going to tell me what you’re planning to do with them, are you?’
‘Nope,’ I said, shaking my head.
If I told him Mr Nichols’ methods for bulb planting now, there would be no surprises to come. As well as filling a wooden tray with bulbs, tossing them into the air and planting them where they fell to achieve a naturalistic look, he also liked to give his visiting friends a handful or two, along with a trowel and instructions about planting depth. Then, he would turn his back, send them out into the garden and eagerly look forward to the following spring when he could indulge in a treasure hunt in his own grounds to discover where they had ended up.
That was what I intended to suggest to Kate. ‘Just bring Kate and the girls out tomorrow as soon as Jas gets home from school, and then go back into the house.’ I instructed Luke, my heart thrumming at the thought of playing the game Mr Nichols had invented.
‘You don’t want me to help?’
‘Nope,’ I told him firmly, ‘and I certainly don’t want you looking out to see what we’re up to.’
‘Fair enough,’ he laughed, catching my enthusiasm, ‘I’ll stay hidden until you’re finished then.’
‘Perfect,’ I grinned.
Thankfully, Jasmine was home early from school the next day. She’d had an afternoon dental appointment which meant going back to class was hardly worth it and was able to join me, along with Kate and Abigail and Chloe, just after half past two which gave us enough daylight to carry out my bulb planting plan.
The sisters loved taking part and thought it was going to be great fun keeping it all a secret from their father, and Kate was keen too. It was almost dark when they finally headed back to the house and Chloe cycled home and most of the bulbs had been well hidden. I was going to plant the daffodils in what Luke called ‘the meadow lawn’ myself, and there were just a random few others left to distribute.
There was no sound coming from Finn’s studio, but there was a light on and I wondered if I dared to knock and ask if he fancied taking part. If not in the dark that evening, then perhaps tomorrow or later in the week.
I knew I was using the idea as an excuse to work out whether or not he had forgiven me sticking up for him in front of Zak, but it had all been preying on my mind and I really did want to try and explain to him that, with regards to family at least, we truly were paddling a pretty similar boat.
I was also interested to discover what exactly he had said about me to his family. Zak had implied that he’d said something, but given that Finn had a complicated relationship with his father, I thought mentioning me at all was unnecessary, so it was most likely something and nothing, inflated by his half-brother to arouse Finn’s annoyance and my curiosity, and that of course had worked because I desperately wanted to know.
The only problem was, you never knew which version of Finn you were going to be faced with. Would it be Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde who opened the door? Would I be treated to a warm welcome or a glowering scowl? I’d had a truly lovely afternoon, and the surly Mr Hyde would be a total mood killer. If I was still in Finn’s bad books, then I was really going to regret disturbing him, even though I would have been doing it with the best of intentions.
I’d literally just decided not to take the risk when the studio door was wrenched practically off its hinges and Finn peered out.
‘I thought I heard someone loitering,’ he said gruffly, and I took another step away, swallowing down the gasp which had shot into and then out of my mouth.
‘I was just passing,’ I swallowed, readjusting my hold on the bulb