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“Don’t work too hard,” she said softly.
She watched Palmer’s smile grow. Then, she turned to see that Palmer’s father was giving her that patented Honeycutt lifted eyebrow. She’d been caught, and now she was about to spend alone time with this man.
“After you,” he said, motioning to the now-open door.
Elizabeth followed him into the backyard down a sidewalk path that had already been shoveled and then salted. It was cold, but her borrowed sweatshirt with ‘NYU’ on the front was enough to keep her warm until they arrived at the greenhouse.
“This is amazing,” she said once they were inside.
“The school where I teach subsidized it once I took over the AP botany courses.”
“AP?” she asked.
“Oh, sorry. It’s advanced placement. They’re classes that bright students can take in high school. They take a test at the end of the year, and if they score high enough, they can skip courses in college when they get there. I started teaching botany two years ago. The school’s actually only a half-mile through the woods behind our house. It’s very convenient for me to get to work, but when I was able to get a grant to build the greenhouse, as long as I use it for the students, the school helped me make it a part of the curriculum. Now, the students can come to the greenhouse and see plants they’d likely never get to see otherwise.”
“You have hibiscus?” Elizabeth asked, walking over to one of the rows where she noticed the pink flower.
“I do. That one wasn’t easy to get growing here, even in the greenhouse.” He stood behind her. “Palmer thought you might like this place. I see she was right.”
“My mother had a greenhouse. Her favorites were plumerias, but she taught my sister and I about a lot of flowers. The hibiscus means rare and delicate beauty.” She touched just one of the petals with the tip of her finger.
“It’s possible, my daughter will give you one of these later,” he said, chuckling. “She appears to be on a mission to make my thriving greenhouse a barren desert.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Elizabeth turned to look at him. “I’ll ask her to stop.”
“No, don’t.” He waved her off. “For starters, flowers are meant to be seen. I give them to my wife all the time. And to Camilla, of course. I’d give them to Palmer, but–”
“She’s more of the giving kind when it comes to flowers?”
He smiled and said, “Yes, she takes after me that way, I guess.”
“She’s very sweet,” Elizabeth said, smiling.
“She is, yes,” he said. “What’syourfavorite?”
“Sorry?”
“You said yourmother’sfavorite was the plumeria.”
“Oh, the plumeria is mine as well,” Elizabeth replied. “Although, it’s probably my favorite because itwasher favorite, so I don’t know. Maybe it’s time to find a new one.” She smiled at him. “It might just be the next one Palmer gives me.”
“Until she gives you another one?”
“Are we about to have a conversation about Palmer?” she asked, meeting the man’s eyes.
“I don’t know.Shouldwe have a conversation about Palmer?” he asked back.
“She must have gotten her directness from her mother.” Elizabeth laughed.
“You’ve noticed that, huh?” he asked back. “Yes, my wife wears the pants in our marriage. I am man enough to not only accept but acknowledge how well it works for us. That includes her directness; she’s not someone who messes around when there’s a direct line to something.”
“What would you like to know?” Elizabeth asked as she walked to the next row of fragrant flowers.
“The two of you are more than friends,” he said.
“We haven’t really statedwhatwe are to each other,” she replied.
“You don’t have to; it’s pretty obvious. You seem to know her pretty well already, and we noticed the holding hands at dinner the other night, not to mention the kiss on the cheek before we came out here, and the fact that she stayed in your hotel room last night.”
