Page 38 of Kiss Me Now
Gran laughed. “All of my grandchildren are unreasonably attractive, talented, and intelligent. But again, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
There was a sly glint in Miss Lily’s eyes, one I was growing to know meant she was angling to do some mischief. Probably some misguided matchmaking. I was about to interject and change the conversation in case Ian was on board with Miss Lily’s scheme, but he spoke instead.
“Mary promised me Mississippi roast again if I came out this weekend, and it’s not like I was going to turn that down.”
“Smart boy,” Miss Lily said. “Now help us pull these weeds.”
Normally, the space between rows was cozy to me, tucked in between the bean vines. But the idea of Ian kneeling in the dirt with us suddenly shrunk it from cozy to claustrophobic.
“I’ve got it,” I said. “It’s no big deal. Why don’t you two head in and visit while I finish up here?”
“Are you sure you’re all right if I go in?” Miss Lily asked. “I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed.”
“It’s no problem,” I assured her.
“Then I think I’ll go get myself some sweet tea while you two finish up out here.”
“That’s not what I...” I trailed off because Miss Lily had already beelined for the house as if she hadn’t heard me.
Ian laughed and settled on his heels beside me. “Give up,” he suggested. “She’s had eight decades to get that wily.”
I smiled. “I’m figuring that out. You know what you’re doing out here?”
In answer, Ian plucked five weeds in quick succession and displayed them on his palm. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, it’s not that hard when the tomato plants are already so big.” There was something about Ian’s sureness of himself that always made me want to bring him back down to size.
“Don’t worry, I can do it when they’re seedlings too. Gran kept us busy every summer out here. She called gardening the cure to ‘hooliganism.’”
“She thinks gardening will cure everything, as far as I can tell,” I said.
“She’s usually not wrong.” He flashed me a smile and turned his attention to the weeds, already moving down the row to the next section.
Not to be outdone, I picked up my pace, wanting to get out of the garden and away from awkward small talk as quickly as possible. But Ian didn’t engage in any small talk. He worked at his weeds quietly, and when I sneaked a glance at him, his face was relaxed, as if he had found the same Zen headspace I often did out here.
After several long minutes of silence, I felt a tickle somewhere inside, maybe in my chest, urging me to speak and break it. I tried to ignore it, but it didn’t go away, so I cleared my throat and waded in. “Hey, Ian? Thank you again for the flowers.”
“Least I could do.” He sounded mellow and didn’t look up from the weeds. Just kept tugging them out.
“You didn’t have to,” I said. But I didn’t mean it. It really was the least he could have done after pulling up my past like he was yanking out those weeds.
“Of course I did.” He twisted so he faced me, both of us still kneeling in the dirt. “I’d like to do more if you’ll let me. All that investigation told me is that I definitely don’t know you well enough to figure out what might help me make restitution.”
He meant it. That was Miss Lily’s influence coming through. His sincerity allowed me to drop my guard in a way I hadn’t since he’d first shown up in the garden in a designer shirt and expensive loafers.
“It’s okay. For real.” I brushed my wrist against my forehead to catch a bead of sweat at my hairline. “I guess I hoped that all that stuff would go away once I left DC behind, but I can understand why you were being so protective of Miss Lily. I just think she can handle herself better than...well, anyone I’ve ever known.”
Ian gave a small laugh. “True enough. You’d think I’d have learned not to underestimate her at this point.”
I climbed to my feet. “I think I’m done out here for now. It’s been a long day already, and I have another one ahead of me. I need to eat a big dinner and fall asleep way too early.”
Ian rose too. “Gran said you start your teaching job on Monday. Still getting ready?”
“No. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, which isn’t very ready.” I swiped at another bead of sweat. “Tomorrow I need to do more renovation stuff. It’s hard but mindless work, and sometimes that lets my brain problem-solve other things. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll fall into bed with my backsplash tiledandbrilliant new lesson plans.”
“Why don’t you come over for supper?” Ian said. “We can at least feed you before you go unconscious.”
I waved away the offer. “That’s sweet of you, but I don’t want to intrude on your time with Miss Lily. I’m too tired to be good company anyway.”
