|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
surprisingly happy at the amount of manual labor she d just been given, though her mother looked less enthusiastic, especially when they reached the gardens, which were every bit as bad as RJ had suggested. It s like a jungle in here, Phoebe said. Not exactly like you wandering around with your little watering can, is it? her mother asked, clearly taken aback. Patrick watched Phoebe pull back her shoulder blades and stare down the unruly garden. Well, at least we ll know we made a difference today. She smiled at him. Thanks for showing us what we re doing. I guess you d better get back to the walls. You won t be getting rid of me that easily, I m afraid, Patrick said. He nodded to the old tree stump in the middle of the garden. It was gnarled and dark with age, obviously rock solid. That s my project for the afternoon. Oh boy, Angela said. Those things have roots like iron. Patrick could barely take his eyes off of Phoebe to reply to her mother. I ve often heard it said that nothing worth doing comes easy. Yes, well, occasionally you put in all that work and still get nothing out of it, Phoebe pointed out, but then stopped and glanced across at her mother. We should probably let Patrick get to work, Mom. It looks like he has a lot to do, and so do we. That was true. First he had to dig around the stump, finding the roots and removing them before probably having to hack the thing down to a moveable size with an axe. Even then, he d probably need RJ s help for the final removal. Still, the sooner he got started with it, the sooner he d be finished, so he went and fetched a shovel. By the time he got back with his tools, Phoebe and her mother had already set to work on putting the garden into some kind of order. Phoebe worked her way methodically along the rows of weeds, separating them out from those plants that could still be salvaged there. She worked with a straightforward kind of determination that Patrick greatly admired. He set to work on getting the stump out, and it was every bit as hard as both RJ and Phoebe s mother had predicted it would be. Pretty soon, sweat was pouring from him as he worked his way around the roots. But it was all worth it because he not only got to watch Phoebe working with her mother, he was also just close enough to hear them chatting. I d forgotten what hard work this was, Phoebe s mother said. Are you sure we used to enjoy it that much? Phoebe laughed. Oh yes, she said in a deadpan voice, we loved it. Only, instead of laughing with her, Phoebe s mother picked up a plant her daughter had put into the compost heap and stuck it back in the ground. Those aren t weeds, honey. They re perfectly good Gardenias. I know, but they re dying. Phoebe removed the plant again. It s better to get them out now and get it over with, so that there s room for something to really flourish. Her mother s face fell. Maybe all they need is a little loving attention, rather than being tossed in the nearest trash container. Her mother took the trowel from Phoebe s hand. And it would be better if you held it like this. Phoebe pressed her lips together and he was almost certain she was counting to ten before speaking. Just as he sometimes had to do with difficult clients. You know I do this for a living, right Mom? Phoebe said in a voice so soft that Patrick more read her lips than heard the words. That doesn t mean that you know everything, dear. Besides, maybe if you spent a little less time working and a little more getting out to meet some suitable young men, then you would spend your days off doing something other than yet more gardening. Patrick clenched his teeth at the idea of Phoebe meeting any suitable young men. She d already met one, thank you very much. I ve told you before, Phoebe said in a voice that was a whole lot more relaxed than it should have been. I like my life, Mom. Patrick had to admire her self-control. It seemed clear to him that her mother wasn t trying to be unpleasant, but that surely couldn t make it any easier for Phoebe. If this was something that she had to deal with on a regular basis then no wonder she was careful about letting people in. Looking at the pair of them, he could guess an awful lot about Phoebe s childhood, with a mother who was clearly broken up by the loss of the men in her life. But instead of that sudden insight making Patrick want to back off, he only admired Phoebe more. And it only made him believe all the more strongly that if anyone deserved some real romance in her life it was Phoebe. Patrick wasn t sure how he was going to do it yet the walls Phoebe had set up around herself seemed as solid as the tree stump he was working on but he was determined to get through to her. Besides, he d always thrived on challenges. Working to whittle down the stump to a more manageable size, when Patrick finally looked up from his hard work, he was amazed by the transformation of the garden under Phoebe s hands. He could hardly believe it was the same overgrown wilderness they had begun the day with. Looking back at the remains of the stump, he considered calling over his brother for help. But then he had a better idea. Phoebe, Angela, would you give me a hand with this? Sure, Phoebe said as she and her mother headed over to help. What do you need? There were so many possible answers to that question, starting with a simple You and going from there. For now though, Patrick settled for pointing to the remains of the tree. I d love some help getting this into the wheelbarrow. Phoebe didn t hesitate. So many of the women he d been out with would have hated the idea of doing that kind of hard manual labor. Most wouldn t have stayed for the day s work so far, but she was only too happy to help at one side of the stump while Patrick got the other. Even Angela didn t balk for too long, and he suddenly realized where Phoebe had gotten her strength from. Angela wasn t an easy woman, perhaps, but in the end she was a survivor. Between the three of them, they managed to lift what was left of the tree stump into the wheelbarrow. As Patrick wheeled it away, he stole a glance back and saw Phoebe smiling over at her mother. It was obvious how much Angela mattered to her, but then, it had been obvious all day. And what a lucky woman Angela was, to be loved by Phoebe. Chapter Ten By the end of the day, Phoebe was so exhausted from working on the garden that she felt like she could sleep for a week. Yet as she looked around, seeing the difference that she had made to the flower garden along with her mother, it was easy to think that it had all been worth the effort. So, Patrick asked, coming back from getting rid of the last of the tree stump, did you have fun today? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
Odnośniki
|