The Herb Garden

Another salty, warm bead of sweat glistened as it ran down Blaine Andersons forehead and sat on his brow has he arched his back, cracking a few bothersome bones that needed to be straightened out and placed his cracked hands, worn down by sun and soil, on the small of his sticky back after a busy morning of replanting some rosemary bushes.

Blaine had been working at The Herb Garden with his Aunty Lucy since he was 16, though he'd never had any horticultural education, there was neither a tree nor a trowel he couldn't identify and not a scent in the whole Nursery his nose didn't know off by heart. It was mid-July, mid-day and just about the right time for one of Lucy village famous cream teas which, even though steaming hot, seemed to cool Blaine down and as he was a well-known sweet tooth, really hit the spot.

Lucy was a fairly large woman; rather fitting Blaine thought that she should resemble one of the rosy cheeked apples that had ripened on the tree at the very back of the gardens, one of his personal favourite plants and which could be seen in perfect view from the tea room they were to sit in.

"Don't you ever stop boy?" she chuckled, waddling over with the tea and a few naughty little biscuits because he had been "such a sweetie" this week. The warm sweet air rising from the fresh drinks danced with the smell of the rosemary that clung to Blaines clothes, an unusual and unexpected mix of aromas but somehow it worked and made this afternoon break even more relaxing.

Blaine grinned and shook his head laughably "Lucy I'm twenty one! I'm not scraggy little Blainey boy anymore I-"

"Oh of course you are silly, so you've grown a few inches and have managed to sprout some face fuzz but you'll always be my little B! Now stop being dithering dandelion and sit ya bum down"

Blaine smiled again, gave Lucy a peck on the cheek and attempted to place himself somewhere that the mud on his jeans wouldn't stain anything, unfortunately Lucy, among her many talents, enjoyed making hundreds of decorative lace cushions which she scattered on every sofa or chair with great pride so in fear of tainting her hard work Blaine simply reached over his back, pulled off his everyday trusty blue t-shirt and sat on that.

Blaine wasn't shy about sitting there with his chest on display; Lucy had given him a family and a home after all. Seven years ago Blaines parents had stayed over for the week at a friends house in London, Lucy agreed to have Blaine for the half term, but as Blaine came inside ready and eager for their dog walk, he found Lucy, she was crying, sat in the living room eyes wide with horror as she stared in shock at the television which showed a red double decker bus with the roof ripped off and the flashing blue lights of the police cars that blocked the scene with officers telling the public to "stay back" and "not look".

That Sunday Blaine and Lucy attended a remembrance service to pay their respects to those lost in the London bombings, Blaine wasn't stupid, he was old enough to know what this meant and what had happened and maybe in a way it made it easier for Lucy not to have to explain why they weren't coming back, but Lucy lived on her own and had never had children. Being suddenly struck with the duty of motherhood whilst trying to cope with the grief of losing her sister took its toll for a few years but Blaine had a good heart, sometimes too good, and helped Lucy through the hard times just as much as she helped him, they made each other laugh, Lucy bought pizza and snacks for when they watched movies and loved more than anything else, taking Daisy , a rather attention seeking Staffie and patch the loveable yet loopy Springer spaniel, out for their Thursday morning walk.

The two sat in silence, not because they didn't want to speak to each other, simply because of the way the beams of sunlight that bounced off the hanging glass wind chimes, burst into rainbows illuminating the conservatory and transformed it into an almost magical multi-coloured paradise.

Blaine leaned back, forgetting just how much sweat had accumulated from the morning, and gazed around the room like he was Alice having had fallen into wonderland.

"God this place still amazes me, I don't think there could be anything more beautiful, I could just sit and listen to this forever" His eyes followed the dust weave in and out of the light and Lucys mouth curled up at the corner as she remembered how Blaine would do this when he was little…well littler.

But as sweet as it was, it was like Lucy said "Ain't no use expecting flower and eggs to taste good, you gotta get on and bake that cake!"

So Blaine took a motivational deep breath in and hitched himself out of his seat, splaying tiny flakes of soil on the floor as he did but before Lucy could clip him round the head for inevitably dirtying up her latest pillowcase Blaine had scarpered with a cheeky grin wiped across his face almost as a little 11 year old boy, putting an earthworm he had just discovered, in his aunties underwear draw…

It was then that Blaine heard the latch softly click on the front gate followed by a couple of hesitant steps towards the tea room, like that of a baby deer taking its first steps, not knowing quite which way is best.

"he…hello? Mrs Kimerage?"

An innocent, curiously pale face slowly emerged from behind the courtyard wall, smooth slender fingers on one hand grasped around a clipboard as the others readjusted the designer leather marc Jacobs bag sliding from his shoulder. The strangers eyes darted towards Blaines, a little in shock but he sensed relief as well, perhaps glad that he had found the right building, Blaine knew only too well that Birthday presents sent to Lucy had to be posted weeks in advance so the postman had the chance to work out where on earth in this tangled mess of rural England her house was.

But it seemed to take Blaine by shock too, those eyes were like no colour he'd ever seen, the colour that fresh air would look like and crashing ocean waves and stars in the midnight sky spun into a dozen threads of blue and held his stare, he has never seen someone so radiant, even with the sunbeam seeping through the willow trees it seemed as if, he was the one that lit up the garden.

Blaine then became very aware that he was sweating, a lot, and staring, a lot and had neither introduced himself or thought of putting his shirt back on.

Well, first impressions are never perfect, right?