AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Emilia’s stomach churned, but she played dumb, nonetheless, staring off into space and scrunching her face as if to think. “Amazing how time flies, isn’t it?”
Aggie laughed, then threw a few seed packets into the basket. “Darn right. His name’s Blaine. Sure ya don’t know him?”
Emilia shivered at his name and wished Aggie would just let up already. Then again, without stubbornness, Emilia might never have made it out of LA, so maybe she could appreciate the attribute.
Still, the silence dragged out long enough that Aggie swatted the air. “Ah, never mind. Los Angeles is a big city, and he came back to us here in Harlow so long ago. It doesn’t matter much anymore, now does it?”
Judging by her own turbulent emotions and Blaine’s storming off last night, Emilia doubted his leaving LA “didn’t matter” to him anymore. Not that she was about to admit anything to that effect to Aggie.
Aggie brushed remnants of soil from her hands, a hint of sorrow weighing on her expression. “I doubt many round here remember, but he returned to Harlow a different young man. Young men and broken hearts, dontcha know? Took some time to get himself back together.” She released a soft sigh and nodded down to the basket. “Anyhoo, how’s about we take this lot to the table on my front veranda, and I can bag this all up for you there.”
She forced an unaffected smile and allowed Aggie to lead the way, all while trying to forget what being forced out of LA must have done to Blaine. Not that trying to forget had ever worked for her. She’d known all too well he’d wanted a big life in the big city, and because of her, he’d lost that dream.
She got to the veranda table and laughed down at the basket filled with garden things, eager to return to the blissful isolation of home. “You know, I only came here for wasp dust, and I don’t know the first thing about gardening. I’ll probably just end up killing all these plants.”
“Now dear, that’s where I come in. You have any questions, you just call, okay?” A light chuckle broke from Aggie’s lips, and she tapped a finger to the side of her forehead. “And trust me, I’m doing you a favor. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself a little too idle in that cottage alone, and that’s when people round these parts get in trouble. The way I see it, the best way to get through tough times is to have something or someone else to look after. You can’t go wrong with a few plants here and there.”
Emilia gave Aggie a side stare, suspicious of what she meant since they hadn’t exactly discussed Emilia’s “tough times.”
Perhaps her troubles were written all over her, and this woman had been around long enough to spot a person’s hardships. Though what kind of “trouble” Aggie anticipated Emilia could get into, while living alone in a tiny cottage, was anyone’s guess.
But just like a bumbling dolt, Emilia opened her mouth and answered her own question. “You know, I think I might have met Blaine. Would he be the man Frank has working on my kitchen?”
“You betcha, that’s him.” Aggie gave a quick smile, pushing a plant into a small plastic carry bag, the wasp dust left waiting on the table. “Now, all this is kinda spendy, so I won’t charge you for the plants. Just the seeds and the dust. Call it a housewarming gift.”
“Wow. Thank you.” And because Emilia was a bumbling dolt incapable of letting things go, she spoke again, “Ally mentioned a woman named Sarah. Sounds like Blaine doesn’t have a broken heart anymore.”
She offered a hopeful smile and tried hard not to groan at the lengths she’d cross to cover her guilt. Maybe he wasn’t brokenhearted anymore, but he sure was still pissed at her. And despite his unmissable irritation, she didn’t want him to be anything other than happy.
Aggie shot forward a pointed stare, one that reached down her face, holding her lips pursed and capturing the silence a fraction too long, like maybe she saw through Emilia’s charade. “It’s common knowledge that Sarah is Blaine’s fiancée. Other than that, it’s not my place to talk on other people’s private business.”
The older woman snapped an arm out, extending the shopping bag with plants, seeds, and wasp dust inside. “But if I had to say anything, it’d be to remember my warning about not getting into trouble.”
