Page 112 of Where You're Planted

Jack cleared his throat and turned back to his PowerPoint, seeming to have lost his train of thought. “The library’s scavenger hunt signs are tucked among our plant ID signs all around the grounds. The new Garden Club is co-led by library and gardens staff, at least until their operations are cut next month.”

The projection screen showed before-and-after images of the gated garden with the half circle of tree stumps and the painted rocks and the raised beds, followed by images of Tansy surrounded by captivated children as she animatedly read to them.

“I intended to come here and argue that my park deserves this grant because, despite extreme austerity, we’ve seen compelling growth in our engagement numbers. But the truth is, our recent growth is absolutely linked to the library. It can’t be separated. And actually, my entire point is that the two entitiesshouldn’tbe separated.”

“What is he doing?” Irma barked.

“I don’t know,” Tansy breathed.

“Which is why I’m proposing a new plan. If awarded the grant, we’d use the money to renovate a different structure on our expansion property. This one,” he said, gesturing to thelarge two-story house that appeared on the screen, a modest mansion tucked into the woods. “It’s approximately one and a half times the size of the old library. We’re proposing a larger renovation of this building, which would then house the library’s newly reopened branch.”

“What?” Tansy gasped.

“As you can see, the cost difference between the barn renovation in our original proposal and this one would come from the greenhouse, which we’ve accounted for with a smaller structure and fewer high-tech upgrades.”

Hisgreenhouse. Tansy gripped her chair and leaned forward, afraid to miss a word, feeling as though she had already somehow misheard him.

“But the thing is, the library needs more than promises at this point. They need autonomy. Which is why I’ve spent the last few days in conversations with the library board and administration, our county commissioner Beau Burke, and others to ensure exactly that. Many of them are here tonight to show their support.”

Some hands went up in the audience, and Tansy spotted the commissioner, Sheila from admin, and other vaguely familiar faces of library board members.

“With this grant, we’ll pay for the entire renovation, which the library isn’t currently in a position to do themselves, in exchange for their board’s agreement to fully restore and fund their operations. Most importantly, thanks to the generosity of our county commissioner, who was instrumental in acquiring this property in the first place, the library will have a ninety-nine-year rental contract. It’s not co-ownership of the asset, but as far as we’re all concerned, it’s a secure agreement.”

The commissioner stood to receive his due, pulling off his enormous Stetson and placing it over his heart. “I saw thepotential of this partnership back when I proposed moving the library into the gardens, so of course I’m pleased to sign off on this plan.”

Tansy saw Jack’s jaw tighten, but he nodded in acknowledgment.

A hand went up in the front row. “With all due respect, Mr. Reid, we passed on the library’s proposal, given that we have a robust library system with many other branches across Houston and extensive online services. Although your collaboration with them is certainly compelling, why should we fund your project, which shifts money from your immediate purposes to theirs?”

“Because, ma’am, as the commissioner said at our reopening, disaster can present opportunity. It forces us to see things with new eyes. Out of disaster, we can do more than just rebuild—we canbuild better. The gardens and library are greater than the sum of our two parts. We aremoretogether. So your investment inthisplan will reflect that. You’ll be making a far greater difference by supporting us together than you would have with our previous proposal.”

There were more questions about the logistics, the exact numbers, and the timeline, but all Tansy could hear was the echo of Jack saying,We aremoretogether.

Theyweremore together. Her and Jack.

But it wasn’t only that. He was giving up his state-of-the-art greenhouse for her. And he’d ensured the library would be as secure as possible moving forward. Instead of finding her some other building in the park, tossing her their leftovers, he’d given her and her branch the closest thing to autonomy he could.

He’d done what she never had for him—put her needs before his own.

He’d done it, knowing the last-minute change could have knocked him out of consideration for the grant altogether. It was a risk he probably shouldn’t have taken.

She was overwhelmed with a rising swell of respect and gratitude for him. Withlovefor him. It sparked through her, making her antsy in her seat. She wanted to fling herself onto the stage.

“Any further questions?” one of the committee members asked from the front row. Then, to Jack, “Any further remarks?”

“Just thank you for your time,” Jack said.

“Then this concludes our presentations. Committee members will stay to convene. Thank you to all of our finalists.”

Tansy turned in her chair to ask Kai to stay with Briar for a minute, but Kai cut her off before she could say a word. “Go!”

She wove through the throng of people already pushing their way out and reached the steps to the stage just as Jack was coming down. He raised his hand to the back of his neck, uncertainty all over his face. “Tansy—” he started.

“Shut up and kiss me.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. He glanced to their side at the crowd still milling about. “You’re not mad that I did this without talking to you first?”

“You just used your best shot at funding your expansion to try to pull my library back from the brink. No, I’m not mad. I’m in love with you.” She slugged his arm, eager for him to put his hands on her, his mouth on her.

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