‘Damn! Have I missed all the work?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ve saved you some. We still have to cut back that ivy from the wall.’ He pointed to the creeper on the back wall, encroaching on the door.
Liam picked up a hedge trimmer and handed it to Aidan along with a pair of thick gloves. ‘Here you go.’
‘Thanks.’
Aidan was dressed in a pair of scruffy joggers and a faded sweatshirt, and he looked ruggedly handsome as he rolled up his sleeves and strode to the end of the garden. Lou couldn’t resist watching, admiring his powerful forearms as he set to work. Sheblushed when he turned to clear a bunch of cut vines and caught her watching him. She looked away quickly.
It didn’t take him long to clear the wall. ‘Anything else you’d like me to do?’ he asked Liam.
‘No, I think we’re all done here. We just have to clear everything up and get it into bags for recycling. There won’t be room for it in the bin,’ he said to Lou. ‘We’ll take it back with us.’
They all started gathering leaves and branches and stuffing them into compost bags.
‘It looks like you’re ready to start planting,’ Aidan said to Lou as they worked.
‘Yeah, but I don’t know what yet. I know I want to grow vegetables and herbs, and that’s going to be the flowerbed.’ She pointed to the patch of earth in front of the kitchen window. ‘But I don’t know anything about gardening or what you can plant when. I’m going to get some books from the library.’ She couldn’t wait to get started. In the spring they’d have tender sweet carrots with bright green tops and in summer delicate new potatoes just out of the ground with earth still clinging to their papery skins.
‘Well, there are lots of vegetables you can plant in September – spinach, carrots, salad leaves, turnips… and herbs, of course.’ He pushed a pile of brambles into the bag he was holding and tied it off. ‘Actually, I brought you something,’ he said, pulling off his gardening gloves. ‘I’ll just go out to the car and get it.’
He returned moments later carrying a large wooden crate filled with plant pots.
‘It’s just some herbs to get you started,’ he said, handing it to Lou.
‘Oh, thank you! This is great.’ She leaned down and breathed in the earthy, aromatic scents. There was thyme, rosemary, sage, mint and parsley, and something else that Lou didn’t recognise.She pinched the bright green leaves and smelled her fingers, but she still couldn’t place it. ‘It smells like celery?’
Aidan nodded. ‘It’s lovage,’ he said, brushing the leaves with his fingers. ‘I propagated it from one of my own plants.’
‘This is amazing! Thank you.’ She was touched by the gift.
‘We could get them planted now, if you know where you want to put them?’
‘Yeah, that’d be great.’
‘Can we help?’ Bo asked, appearing at Aidan’s side with Jack.
‘Sure. Many hands make light work.’
‘I’m not sure my hands will be much help,’ Lou said. ‘I’ve never planted anything in my life.’
While Liam, Finn and Sheena continued tidying up and carrying sacks of compost waste to their cars, Aidan brought the crate of herbs to the vegetable patch and sat cross-legged in the grass, Bo and Jack kneeling either side of him. Lou sank down beside Jack.
‘There are only two spades, so we’ll have to take turns. Do you want to dig a hole?’ Aidan asked Jack, handing him one.
‘Yep!’
‘Make it as deep as this pot,’ Aidan told him, lifting out one of the plants. ‘You can dig another one,’ he told Bo, handing her a spade. He showed her where to dig, and the two children set to work, scooping out earth enthusiastically.
‘Good job,’ Aidan told them when they’d finished. He handed Bo the pot of thyme. ‘Do you want to help me show Jack and Lou how to plant it?’
The little girl was impressively knowledgeable, turning the pot over in her hand and gently squeezing it to free the plant. They were a practised double act as Aidan did one at the same time.
‘Then you tease out some of these roots,’ he said, demonstrating, ‘so they’re hanging down.’
‘Just gently,’ Bo said, frowning in concentration as she did the same.
‘Then we put it in the hole and fill the soil in around it, and firm it in with your hands.’
Bo demonstrated, patting the earth around the plant.
‘Now it’s your turn,’ Aidan said, handing his spade to Lou.
Lou enjoyed working in the soil, the smell of freshly turned earth hanging in the air. It felt wholesome and healthy and she liked learning new things. She was looking forward to getting to grips with the garden in the spring.
It didn’t take long to get the rest of the herbs into the ground. When they’d finished, Aidan filled a watering can and gave the plants a good soaking. And just like that, Lou had her very own herb garden.
