Home to Eden by Dallas Schulze Page B

frown, he chuckled. "I guess that's self-evident. My grandmother laid the foundations for the gardens while my grandfather was laying the foundation for the house. My mother took over in her turn. She loved these gardens so much that I've always half suspected her of marrying my father just to get her hands on them. My own wife was honest enough to tell me that, if it hadn't been for the gardens, she'd never have been willing to put up with marrying a man named Wallace."
    Catching Kate's startled look of inquiry, he grinned. "Her name was Wanda, " he explained, and was pleased by her soft choke of laughter.
    "She must have loved you very much," she said solemnly;
    "Yes, she did," he said, his smile gentle with memories. He shook himself, and his tone became brisk again. "Unfortunately, she's been gone for more than thirty years now, and I'm afraid the gardens have pretty much gone wild since then. I've hired gardeners over the years but most of them know more about repairing lawn mowers and power blowers than they do about plants. They did manage to keep the place from becoming a complete jungle, but that's about all,"
    As she looked around the property, Kate could feel her determination to refuse the job fading beneath the wild beauty of the place. The house sat on nearly an acre of land and, from what she'd seen so far, it must have been a showplace at one time. She could make out the outlines of flower beds overgrown with Bermuda grass and withered remains of long dead perennials. The only thing blooming in them now was a healthy population of oxalis, their delicate yellow flowers nodding in the slightest breeze.
    "Mother put in the rose garden," Harry said, as he led her down a cracked brick walkway and past an empty fountain. "I was still living at home when she put it in. That was during the thirties. The Depression was on and money was tight but plants were cheap and I provided free labor." He grinned at her. "Reluctantly, I might add."
    Kate returned the smile absently. Her attention was all for the four formal beds laid out in front of her. Wide grass pathways separated them, and in the center, where the paths met, was a life-size statue of the goddess Diana, At the base of the statue was a rusty wrought-iron bench, a silent invitation to sit and enjoy the view. If she narrowed her eyes just a little, she could see what the garden must have looked like in full bloom. The scent of roses would hang heavy on the summer air and bees would drift from blossom to blossom, gorging themselves on nectar. She sighed faintly as the image faded.
    "The roses still bloom," Harry said, interrupting her fantasy. "I thought they were supposed to be fussy but it looks to me like you can't kill 'em with a stick."
    "In this climate, they can tolerate a lot of neglect."
    Kate turned slowly on one heel, eyeing the overgrown hedges and underpruned shrubbery. The place had been shamefully neglected but it wasnH beyond saving. Like a wild, unruly child, all it needed was a firm hand to turn it in the proper direction.
    "It needs a lot of work. It's been let go for much too long."
    "I know." Harry looked abashed. "I kept meaning to do something about it but time just slipped by."
    "Well, it's not too late," she said grudgingly. She had told herself she wasn't going to take the job, but now that she saw the property, it was difficult to turn away from it.
    Nick was working on the house, but by his own admission, be knew nothing about plants so it wasn't like she'd have to work with him. If she was careful, their paths might not even cross.
    "It can't be done overnight and it won't be cheap," she warned.
    "I guessed as much," he said meekly.
    Kate nibbled on her lower lip, common sense struggling against a gut-level hunger to get her hands on Harry's yard. Of course, it would be a good business move. There would be the design fee, which, at Brenda's insistence, was hers alone. There would be the cost of plant material and mulch, all to be ordered