Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters nor the original Inspector Lynley Mysteries – they belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. I have borrowed the characters from the TV-Show and I only own the ideas of my stories and the developments I let them go through.
Please write a Private Message if I did something terribly wrong so I can fix it. Thanks!
Please read and review! More thanks!
A/N + summary: Here's the first chapter, now stop nagging, Cats. And please try to keep quiet because I can't post one chapter per day.
A hot summer, something that had gone not quite the way Lynley had planned, and two helpful friends. It promises a lot of work but certainly also a lot of fun.
This one is inspired by real life. Enjoy...
.
Digging Roots
.
"Yes! Yes, of course!" DI Tommy Lynley grumbled loud and very angry into his mobile phone while he walked into the Met's office in the homicide division one summer morning. It was the office of the best team of that division. It was his team. "I told you! ... Yes, I did! It's in the contract!"
Coming past the desk of Sergeant Barbara Havers he nodded and rolled his eyes in his own special way indicating that he obviously spoke to an idiot. Constable Nkata was sitting right next to her drinking an ice cold water. "Why should I've given you... yes... yes, I'll wait." Lynley, dressed in a suit of course although it was hot these days, muffled his phone on his shoulder and quietly addressed his closest team members so the person on the other end of the line would not hear him. "In my office? Ten minutes. Thank you." A voice was heard from his chest and he spoke to his phone again. "Sorry, can you repeat that? ... What?!" His voice pitched with disbelief. "Are you joking?
The door to his office fell into its lock. Barbara Havers looked at DC Winston Nkata who was similarly suppressing a grin. They had no clue what that conversation was about but their boss had not appeared overly amused to them.
Ten minutes later, fourteen that is, because they thought Lynley could do with a few minutes more to calm down, the two Detectives knocked at his office door and were called inside. It was distinctively cooler in here with his new air condition. The old one in the main office almost had no effect at all and all the officers there had been sweating for days. It was no wonder that Barbara had tried to spend as many moments in here as were justifiable. It had been a nice week of close work with the DI.
Now DS Havers and DC Nkata were informed by their DI that the whole team had to take part in some first aid course after the weekend and then they went through the details of some other unloved refresher courses they would have to attend until the end of the year.
Barbara made no attempt to hide her dislike and loudly groaned when she made her calendar entries.
"Any objections, Havers?" her boss asked with a cocked head and raised eyebrows, that certain expression she secretly loved but deeply hated when it was meant for her. Precautionally Nkata had kept his head down. He would not want to feel the boss' anger. Who knew what that phone call had been about.
"No, Sir, I'm fine with it." Her frown was only thinly disguised by a polite smile and Lynley saw right through it. He knowingly smiled and nodded.
"Good. Mmh..." he skimmed his notes and then looked up again. "There's nothing else for today so you can catch up with paper works, Detectives. While I'll try to find a new gardener as soon as possible." Lynley groaned in the end.
"A new gardener, Sir?" Winston asked. In the next second he bit his tongue. Lynley's slightly foul mood surely had something to do with his earlier phone call and Nkata simply was curious. And he did not want to return to his desk too soon. A little chat in the cooler office would be nice. Lynley bit.
"A gardening company, to be precise." The DI leant back in his chair and groaned annoyed. "The one I've hired only did half of the work and now has no time to do the rest. Only some time later in the year."
Barbara raised a quizzical eyebrow. It was a mimicked expression she had taken over from him, Winston knew, and it always amused him very much when he saw her making it.
Lynley explained a bit more. "You know that huge cluster of trees and bushes in the back of my garden?"
"At the wall?" Barbara asked while the Constable only shrugged. He certainly never had inspected Lynley's garden. Barbara obviously had.
"Exactly. The shrubs with the enormous rose bush covering parts of it."
Out of the blue and with no real reason he had brought her an armful of these roses when they had been in full bloom last year. How could she forget that, so how could she not know that plant. Nkata just wondered why the Sergeant suddenly was blushing. He did not know of the rose bush nor had he any knowledge of Lynley's sweet gesture.
"Well..." the DI went on. "I've engaged a company to rip it off, and-"
"No!" Barbara exclaimed with big shocked eyes. "The beautiful rose too?"
Lynley smiled. "I've rescued that one of course and transplanted it to the side. There's more sun anyway. There's also more space for it and I know it will do her good. The rose will grow bigger and even more beautiful that way."
Barbara sighed in relief and Lynley's smile towards her turned even more affectionate in a way that made DC Nkata wish he was not in the room. Not that he thought they knew he still was there. They tend to forget about other people sometimes when they had one of their conversations. This one was rather harmless but that certain thing between his superiors was weird and sweet all at once. Sometimes Winston just wanted to bang their heads together. How could two people be so blind not to see that they loved each other. He subtly shook his head about these two here.
"Well, apparently I should have clearly told that company to dig out the roots too. I thought it was part of the contract when I asked them to remove the shrubbery. But they just cut it off and left. And now the back of the garden is useless wasteland and the company is fully booked for the rest of the summer."
"You could let the roots rot for a while before you engage them again, Sir." Nkata suggested.
DI Lynley finally turned his head to the Constable. "I'd happily do that, Winston, but unfortunately I don't have the time. On Tuesday next week another company is engaged to build a new pavilion there. I need the roots out of the ground or the delay will cost me a fortune."
Barbara's eyebrows went up again and this time Winston had to hide his grin behind his hands. He pretended to cough.
"You could do it on your own, Sir." Barbara suggested. "Have a nice workout over the weekend. It's nice and warm, you'd be in fresh air..."
"Oh, I so had hoped you'd say that, Barbara. I'm entirely glad you offered your help." Lynley cheekily grinned. "There are a lot of roots in the ground."
"Yes, Barbara." Nkata chimed in. He still was feeling a bit superfluous and actually he never let these opportunities to tease her slip. "You're so very kind."
She glared at both men. Actually she had made other plans. Plans that had something to do with very few clothes, no contact with any public, a sixer of cool beer, the sofa and the telly.
"Oh, of course." she syrupy answered. "How could I resist the prospect of helping you both doing something earthly like garden work. You've said you'll pick me up at 8 tomorrow morning, Winnie? How very thoughtful of you."
"Umm..." Nkata's expression was priceless. Now he was in the game.
"Good. Then it's settled." Lynley quickly stated before they could escape. "Tomorrow morning, at about 8:30, lunch and snacks and lemonade will be provided. Thank you very much."
He broadly grinned. This was killing two birds with one stone - four hands more to help him with the roots that were left in his garden and spending time with his dear friend Barbara. It would become a very nice weekend, he thought. And maybe he could convince her to stay for dinner. "Now about that last bit of paperwork to be done here..."
.
...