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Too restless to do anything else, he’d finally gone to Moonlight Ventures to apologize, only to learn she wasn’t there. Apparently Adam Wilding had flown in unexpectedly and encouraged Nicole to take the day for herself.
Ringing the bell at the house didn’t get an answer, so Jordan dialed Nicole’s cell.
“Yes?” Her voice was breathless.
“It’s Jordan. Are you home? I’m at your front door.”
“I’m still digging, getting ready to start more planting.”
“I hoped that was what you’d be doing. You’ve gotten me interested in seeing how everything will grow.”
“Really? I seem to remember you claiming it was pointless to raise my own veggies when I could easily buy them.”
Jordan winced.
“I’ve come around to your way of thinking,” he said firmly. “I even brought a peace offering.”
The door opened and Nicole stood there wearing shorts and a T-shirt, her forehead damp with perspiration. The day abruptly got much warmer. He turned off his cell phone and dropped it in a pocket, trying to keep his body from reacting.
She cocked her head. “What’s the peace offering?”
“You mentioned wanting to plant another apple tree, so I got one.” Jordan pointed to his small sports car. The top was down and the vehicle seemed dwarfed by the tree slanting over the passenger area. The root ball, a term he’d learned at the nursery, was on the floor of the car, while the top branches extended past the miniscule trunk.
“What kind of apple?” Nicole asked.
“Fuji. You said you needed a second one for pollination.”
“Okay, bring it out.”
Turning, she walked toward the back of the house, Toby tagging along, and Jordan was treated to another delicious view of her curves.
Putting a firm grip on his libido, he got the tree and went around by the side gate. It was awkward and heavy and he was breathing hard by the time he’d reached the large section of the property fenced off for a vegetable plot. Nicole eyed the space along the side, then grabbed a shovel and started digging.
“I’ll do that,” he offered.
“You came to work? I thought you were just bringing a peace offering.”
“As it turns out, I enjoyed myself the other day.”
Nicole’s expression was skeptical. “I also thought you avoided hearth and home activities.”
“It may take me a while to admit it, but I’m capable of, uh, appreciating new experiences.”
He’d almost said he could change and had made a fast substitution.
“Anyhow,” he said to distract himself, “the manager at the nursery said to dig a hole twice as wide and deep as the root ball. The idea is to loosen up the soil so the roots can expand quickly and provide stability for the tree. That’s a whole lot of digging. At the very least we can take turns.” He fished out the sheet of paper he’d been given with instructions on proper planting. Nicole took the paper to read, while he snagged the shovel.
Toby wisely stayed several feet away, but he seemed fascinated by the activity.
“Why did you get such a big tree?” Nicole asked at length. “I was just thinking about getting a little one.”
“This one might start producing fruit faster. The nursery says they have a service where they’ll come out and plant them, but I figured you’d want to do it instead.”
It took a while, but once the hole was deep and wide enough, Jordan lifted the tree out of the container, shook it to loosen the roots, and held it straight while Nicole pushed the dirt in.
“There, that’s good,” she said finally.
Jordan wiped his forehead. “You mentioned plums, apricots and cherries. Are there any special varieties you want?”
“I have to research which ones grow best up here. I’d also love citrus, but I don’t think they’d work in the Northwest without a greenhouse.”
He mentally measured the area. “You have room for one with this huge lot. You know, most people who buy something this large are thinking about family space,” he said, picking his words carefully.
Nicole raised an eyebrow. “I suppose it seems strange to a guy with a one-bedroom condo.”
