Love in Bloom (24 page)

“Or mine,” Millie said. “I'm not sure she's excited that I've found a friend.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “You said she's divorced?”

Millie nodded.

“Crabs in the pot,” he said cryptically.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Ever go crabbing?” he asked.

Millie shook her head.

“Well, you catch a bunch of crabs, there's always one who wants to get away. But if he gets too far, the others pull him right back down. They want him to stay with them, miserable and doomed.”

“Debra's not like that,” Millie protested.

He shrugged. “With kids, who knows? One thing I've learned. They sure don't like their parents to get a life.”

“Oh?” Millie prompted.

“I started going out with a woman, oh, six months after my wife died. I was so lonely, you know. Let me tell you, my girls ripped into me good. How could I dishonor their mother like that? What was I thinking? This woman would come in and take all Ruthie's things. On and on it went.”

“What did you do?”

His chin jutted out at a pugnacious angle. “I didn't stop dating the woman, that's for sure. I told the girls in no uncertain terms that what I did with my life was none of their damned business. Pardon my French.”

Millie couldn't help smiling. “I guess I'll have to tell my daughter the same thing. Without the French.”

That made him chuckle. “Hear, hear. Let her sulk. At our age, we've earned the right to do as we please.”

And, after an enjoyable evening of fine food, fine conversation, and a walk down Movie Memory Lane, when he'd returned her to her doorstep, it appeared he wanted to keep on doing as he pleased. “I hope you'll let me take you out again,” he said as she took her key out of her purse.

She smiled at him. “I would love that.”

“And I hope you'll let me kiss you good night,” he added. He took her by the arms and turned her to face him.

Millie's heart began to race. If she were to be honest, she'd have to admit she'd entertained this very thing as a secret fantasy. But really, it was rather preposterous to be kissing a man on her front porch at her age, and a man who was seven years younger than she was at that.

“Oh, Altheus, I don't know,” she began.

“I do,” he said, and pulled her to him and kissed her.

She felt a jolt as if someone had applied those emergency-room paddles to her chest.
Oh, my
. She pulled away, completely frazzled. “Really, Altheus, I'm seven years older than you.”
And I haven't kissed a man other than Duncan in fifty-four years
. What was she thinking?

That it felt awfully good. And yet, she felt so silly, like she'd just been caught trying on her granddaughter's clothes.

“It doesn't matter to me,” Altheus countered. “You're an attractive woman, Millie, and I enjoy being with you. And I certainly enjoyed
kissing you just now.” He put a finger under her chin and raised her face, forcing her to look at him. “Don't you miss this?”

With her husband gone, one of the things she missed most were those little moments of closeness—the hugs in the kitchen in the morning, the soft kiss good night before they turned out the lights. She had to nod and murmur, “Yes, I do.”

He gave her a hug and another kiss, this time on her forehead. “I think we've got something good going. Let's enjoy it.”

She smiled up at him. “I think you're right, Altheus.”

Who would have thought it? So many people at her age were starting to live in the past. But here, in this new place, Millie was now living in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR GARDEN LOOK GREAT

 

Regularly pinching off (or deadheading) spent
blooms on reblooming plants will often hasten
the development of new blooms, as well as improve
the appearance of your plant.

 

Taking a stroll through the garden with your
morning coffee on a regular basis will help you
become more familiar with your plants and their
particular growth habits. This will allow you to
spot any developing problems or unusual growth
and determine whether it's something that
needs further attention.

 

To gauge bloom times, make note of when plants
flower in gardens in your neighborhood. Nursery
plants are often shipped from warmer regions, so
they're not always reliable indicators of when
your plants will bloom.

 

Vinegar makes a great organic weed killer. Pour a
little directly on weeds. But pour carefully or it will
also take out your flowers.

 

Make a treasure map of your garden by taking
pictures and marking the location of your spring
and fall bulbs with rocks or pretty stones. That way,
you won't accidentally dig them up when planting
or turning mulch into the soil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I
T WAS SATURDAY
, and Slugfest, Heart Lake's annual spring festival named after the Northwest's famous pest, was in full swing in spite of intermittent May showers. The downtown section of Lake Way had been cordoned off and packed with everything from bounce houses and climbing walls to sidewalk chalk art, with chalk provided by the local merchants. Every restaurant, local church, and ser vice club had set up some sort of a food booth along the edges of the street, which was packed with revelers. Amber and her family walked along the street, bundled in raincoats, taking it all in.

Amber had saved up her cookie money so she could spring for eats, and now they were sampling hamburgers from the Family Inn.

Ty frowned at his. “This is a case of
E. coli
waiting to happen.”
He gathered their burgers and handed them back to the cashier. “You wanna cook these a little longer?”

She looked at him like he had a problem, but nodded and took the gut-rot burgers.

“If all their food is this bad, they're in trouble,” said Amber.

Had Ty checked with this restaurant? They could sure use help. Should she even bring up the subject, or would she risk ruining a perfectly good day? They'd had so few, especially since her big blow-up. Well, what the heck. “Did you ever drop off an app there?”

He shook his head. The woman handed him back the burgers. He took another bite of his. “This was a waste of money. And probably even going there would be a waste of time. If their food's this bad, they don't know anything.”

She wanted to push him to at least check it out. WWMD? (What would Millie do?) Millie would probably drop the subject, saying something like, “Whatever you think, dear.”

Except these days, Ty needed help thinking. His brain was in a TV-numbed depression fog and the family money tree was shriveling. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life doing price comparisons at thrift stores and scrounging day-old bread from the bakery and having barely enough money to pay the rent.

It was as if Millie was standing next to her whispering in her ear, “Well, then, give him some armor.”

“They'd be lucky to get you,” she said, working hard to keep her words casual. “And who knows? You may save them from going out of business.” That hadn't been so hard. And it was certainly true.
There, try that on for size
.

He gave a thoughtful nod. “Maybe I'll check it out next week.”

It was such a small thing. A maybe. Not a for sure that he'd follow through, certainly not a guarantee he'd even get an interview, let alone a job. But it was progress. Progress of any kind was good. She smiled at him and gave his arm a squeeze as they started walking toward the bounce house.

Halfway there, she spied Millie on the opposite sidewalk, strolling along next to a big man with gray hair, each of them eating a cotton candy. Old friends, maybe, a brother in town visiting? No. The way they were looking at each other, it was plain to see they weren't related.

“There's my friend, Millie. Let's go say hi,” she said, giving Ty's arm a tug.

“You say hi,” he said. “Seth wants to get to the bounce house.”

“Come on,” she wheedled. “It'll only take a minute.”

He heaved a long-suffering sigh and let her tow him through the crowd, calling to Millie as they went.

“Well, Amber, hello,” said Millie, lighting up at the sight of them. “Isn't this fun?”

It sure beat staying home watching her husband mope around the house. “It is,” Amber agreed and introduced Ty.

“I've heard so many nice things about you. It's nice to finally get to meet you in person,” Millie told him.

Ty looked questioningly at Amber.
What nice things?

She ignored it. “I don't think we've met,” she said to Millie's companion.

“No, we haven't,” he agreed, “but I'll bet you're one of the garden girls. Millie talks about you a lot.”

Millie made the introductions, referring to Mr. Tall, Gray, and Handsome as “my friend” Altheus.

Yeah, well, those weren't platonic looks Amber had been seeing these two giving each other. Friends with benefits? At Millie's age? Amber thought of her grandparents, still going dancing together at the Ea gle's Club every Friday night. She guessed love could blossom at any age.

It could die at any age, too. Your love's not dead, she told herself. It was sick, wilted, but not dead. All they needed was to get just a little bit of sunshine back in their life.

“Have you eaten?” Millie asked. “Altheus and I were talking
about stopping by that Family Inn booth. We could grab a bite. My treat.”

“Was that going to be your next course, after the cotton candy?” Amber teased.

“Oh, you know what they say about life being uncertain,” Millie said with a smile. “Eat dessert first.”

Ty spoke up. “I wouldn't waste your money. We just tried the burgers. They're bad.”

Millie's eyebrows shot up. “Really?” She turned to Altheus. “I guess that's not surprising, is it?”

He shook his head. “I met Charlie Thomas, the owner, at Rotary. He's having a hard time finding a decent chef.”

“Really?” Ty said, his voice speculative.

“It is hard to find good chefs,” Millie said with a shrug. “I'm trying to remember. Didn't your wife tell me you're a chef? Mr. Thomas might want to steal you from your current employer.”

As if Millie didn't know Ty was unemployed. Amber could almost feel the warmth from her husband's red cheeks. “He is a great chef,” she said.

“Can we bounce?” Seth asked, pulling on Amber's arm.

“I guess we'll take a rain check on the food,” Amber said to Millie.

“That's fine. You enjoy yourselves,” she said.

“So, what
did
you tell her about me?” Ty asked Amber as Millie and Altheus strolled off.

“Not much,” Amber lied. “Just that you're a good cook. And a good man.”

There. Husband armored up. And, who knew, maybe next week, Ty would actually feel equipped to enter the job-hunting battle again. Right here in their own backyard—if he got the job it would be a win-win situation.

And, speaking of jobs, why had Millie suddenly wanted to get
something to eat when she and Altheus were already snarfing down cotton candy? Had she known the owner of the Family Inn was in need of a chef? If so, Amber had to hand it to Millie. She was smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

B
OBBI WAS INSISTENT
that Hope come to Slugfest. “You need to get out and have fun.”

Like it would be fun to follow her sister and Jason around. “A threesome?” How desperate did Bobbi think she was, anyway?