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“You’ve got a class today?” It made him feel better that she wouldn’t be out here alone. He didn’t think Eva’s troubles would spill over onto his family, but as a precaution he’d sent a request to Mrs. Jackson to arrange for visitors to drop in and check on her.
“It’s a boy scout troop. You remember those days.” She beamed up at him. “Want to stay? The kids would get a kick out of you snipping a rosemary into a spiral.”
“As much as that appeals, we can’t. We have other things on the schedule.”
“Lovebirds would.”
“Grandma, hush.”
The older woman looked around. “You want to play hard to get, it’s your choice, but she strikes me as the direct type.”
“You’ve been chatting with Mrs. Jackson.”
Ignoring him, she reached up and planted her wiry hands on his shoulders. “Just don’t let her slip through your fingers.”
He sighed, exasperated that she thought she saw something he wasn’t yet sure about. Oh, he knew he was feeling something more serious than a crush, more than the proximity of the situation. He just didn’t know how to convince Eva of that.
“You forget how well I know you. Knew you’d fall hard when it happened.” She gave him a quick shake. “You’ll figure it out.”
He mumbled an agreement, anything to get some distance, and helped her set up the tables, tools, and plants for her class.
“I can’t believe you were going to do this alone,” he said. “You need to hire someone.”
“Maybe. Your sister will be along eventually.”
“Good.” He knew he shouldn’t feel guilty for choosing law enforcement. Yet every time he walked in here he had this overwhelming sense that he’d let her down.
His father had invested a life here, learning the business from before he could walk and building on the solid foundation. Carson had learned at his father’s side and quickly realized it wasn’t where he wanted to spend his life.
He enjoyed certain aspects of the topiary gardens, and nursery and landscaping were a good hobby, but day in and day out, this place just wasn’t the career for him.
When his dad died, his grandparents abruptly dispensed with the idea of retirement and stepped right back into the role of primary business owners. He and his siblings were splitting their time to help out, but it wasn’t the same as having a successor.
“Where’s Pop?”
“I sent him off to Columbia with the last minute shopping list.”
“So he has time to shop for your gift.”
“You are a smart boy,” she said with a chuckle. “Marriage takes understanding, work, and more than a little finagling.”
Eva stepped out of the office, her face pale. He wanted to go to her, to ask questions, but this wasn’t the best time. “Did you get what you needed?”
“Yes.” She bobbed her head. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Morris.”
“Sylvie.”
“Sylvie,” Eva repeated. “We should be going, unless you need Carson to stay?”
“Not at all. He says you have plans. Go on,” she shooed them toward the door. “Enjoy.”
Carson waited until they were in the car. “Can you talk about it?”
She shook her head. “Don’t want to just yet.”
He kept quiet as he headed toward the shooting range. There had to be some sort of small talk he could offer, but he couldn’t think of anything other than questions related to the flash drive.
“My grandmother hadn’t met you before.”Way to go, Deputy Inane.
