Chapter Twenty-Four

When Anything Is Possible

"How are you, truly?" I asked my tall, beautiful son after I'd hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. "And as for this suit and tie…" I touched the lapel of his suit jacket before he could reply. "You're here to relax, not to work."

"I'm okay, Mum…" He deflected my frowning concern with a genuine smile. "Honest. And I promise I'll get casual now that I'm here." He lifted the suitcases in his hand. "I got held up by a last-minute meeting and didn't have time to change or I'd have missed my flight."

"Yes, very well…" I slid my hand through the crook of his arm as we turned toward the house. "But I think I'll be the judge of how okay you really are. You're far too thin for a start. I can already tell you've not been eating properly."

"Carolyn…" Devon warned me as the two men shook hands. "At least, allow him time to get inside before you start your in-depth cross-examination. He's had a long flight."

"Of course…" I lifted my chin in defiance. "But don't forget, I'm his mother and it's my job to worry about all my children."

"It's truly fine, Devon." Edward chuckled indulgently. "She's always been like this. She just can't help herself and we love her for it."

Above my head, the two equally matched men shared a masculine look of long sufferance. It needled me, but I allowed it to slide. I was just so happy my eldest child was finally home and staying longer than I could have ever hoped for.

"We were just about to have a late lunch," I continued as we walked into the house. "We've been having fun working in the garden all morning. I'll show you up to your room, then we can all get washed up before we eat."

"You've learned to garden and cook?" Edward's brows rose in mock amazement as Devon returned to the kitchen while we walked together up the main staircase to the bedroom level. "Wonders will never cease."

"Not yet, but I'm slowly learning," I confessed ruefully, showing my son into the largest of the guest rooms that overlooked the back garden. "Our dear Maria spoiled me for too many years. Devon's a good teacher and he's very patient."

"He's very good to you and for you," he replied gently as he tossed his suitcases onto the wide bed. "And that's what matters to all of us. You deserve to be looked after, because of everything Ian put you through."

"I'm so glad you're here," I whispered as I hugged him again. "I have missed you. We've hardly seen each other apart from last Christmas and our wedding. I really don't know where the year has gone."

"Work has kept me very busy." He lifted one shoulder in apology. "But I'm here now. We'll make up for some lost time."

"Yes, you are…" I stood back to indicate a door in the corner. "There's an ensuite bathroom right through there. We'll be in the kitchen when you've changed and washed up. You know the way. I hope you're hungry."

"Starving," he replied with a nod as he opened one of his cases to pull out a change of clothes.

"See you down there, then…" I sighed as I left him alone.

I prayed it was going to be all right. From the look of him, my son had been overworking himself and he appeared to be beaten down. Suddenly, two weeks didn't seem to be enough time to help him sort out his life. I went back downstairs with a heavy heart and wondering what to do for the best.

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I looked up from my meal preparations when my wife walked back into the kitchen, her frowning expression deep in pensive thought. "Carolyn…" I said again in that same warning tone I'd used when our son had first arrived. "You really need to give him some space to breathe," I advised as I added lengths of freshly made ribbon pasta to the pot of boiling water.

"If only it was that easy…" She walked up to my side to slide an arm around my waist as she tasted the rich pasta sauce I'd made with a quick dip of her finger.

"Mmmm, delicious…" She smiled as she licked at the hot food and turned to kiss my cheek. "You are very good to me."

"That's because I love you so much…" I took her hand and kissed her sticky finger before licking it clean.

"Oh, Devon…" She sighed watching me with fathomless eyes. "What are we going to do for him?"

"Not a single thing," I advised firmly, as I wiped her finger and then my hands before tossing the dishcloth over my shoulder. "Not until he's ready to talk. If he decides to do so. It's entirely up to Edward. He's here to rest, not to be interrogated. If I thought it would do any good, I'd make you promise to leave matters well alone. Remember who is the lawyer in this family."

I smiled down at her, as she nestled against my shoulder. "But I know your heart wouldn't be in it. You just can't help yourself."

"You know me so well," she replied after kissing me on the lips with a distracted smile. "Can I help with anything?"

"You can lay out the cutlery and fetch the salad from the fridge. This pasta is almost done, and the sauce is ready. All we need now is the guest of honour."

"He said he'd be down soon." She nodded quickly as she walked away.

I could see she had not a single intention of listening to my sage advice or allowing the matter to lie. She was right, of course. She was our son's mother, and she would always worry, no matter how grown up any of her children were. I just hoped Edward could weather the storm of her deep interest in his personal life without becoming offended or leaving too soon.

But I had no clear idea of how to deflect Carolyn from her self-appointed quest. I went back to my food preparations and prayed I would think of something and soon.

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I sat back on my heels and wiped the back of one hand across my damp forehead. It had been a good morning's work, but I was grateful for the deep shade cast by the enormous oak that dominated the rear of the back garden. The early afternoon sun was strong and bright. The air was fresh and clean with the hint of ozone from the vast ocean washing against the shore far below.

Devon, Carolyn and I had been hard at work, digging and weeding. Despite my protests that they were paying me to do the work, they both seemed to enjoy getting their hands deep into the rich soil. We'd spent a very convivial morning together slowly setting things to right.

They'd only left me when they finally heard a car pulling up the driveway. I knew Edward Bridges, their Boston-based son, was coming to stay for a couple of weeks. Both were looking forward to spending time with him, which gave me the freedom to carry on with what they were paying me for. I worked faster alone.

I turned my head to glance back at the house. Bathed in the warm afternoon sun, its many windows sparkled. Again, I marvelled at how much they'd managed to achieve in such a short time of ownership. I could tell they truly loved the old place which made me very happy.

Yesterday, when we'd first met, I'd told them about Mrs Greig and my enduring friendship with the old lady. Carolyn and Devon had absorbed everything I told them and taken me on as their gardener willingly and given me a raise from what Mrs Greig used to pay me. This morning, the first thing I'd shown them was the line of small animal graves along the back fence that they promised to leave untouched.

Of course, I was still very protective of the house and its many secrets. I'd been the old lady's trusted confidant as well as her good friend. I protected her still and I knew she was also looking out for me.

"Which is as it should be…" I whispered as I stood up from my task and dropped my garden fork before pulling off my canvas work gloves.

I sighed as I placed my hands on the small of my back and eased the pain in my muscles on a long, welcome arch backwards. I'd been too long kneeling and bending over. I leaned down to pick up my water bottle.

Suddenly, I had the distinct impression I was being watched. The sensation tingled up and down my spine, as I raised the opened bottle to my lips and took a long swallow.

I feigned disinterest as I lifted my eyes to the first floor of the house and saw a man standing in the open window of the largest guest room looking down on me with a puzzled frown. At first, I took him to be Devon, then realised this man was younger and had curling blond hair cut low across the back of his neck.

He was dressed in a black T-shirt that lovingly defined every firm muscle of his chest and upper arms. I guessed he worked out a lot. The bright sunlight glinted gold from the fine blond hairs on his forearms as he folded them across his chest and continued to stare down at me.

"Edward, then…" I frowned as I recapped the water bottle and looked away.

But the memory of his frowning blue eyes remained. He seemed to disapprove of me in some way. Why, I had no idea. Not that it mattered.

We'd never met before that I could remember. I shook my head. "And his gorgeous blue eyes, I surely would've remembered. If I'm interested. Which I'm not…"

I shrugged my feigned unconcern as I walked around, picking up my gear and zipping the smaller items into my holdall. "He's only here for two weeks and he's certainly none of my business."

Satisfied I'd neatly pigeonholed him where he rightly belonged in my life, I glanced back to the bedroom window. But he'd already disappeared. I shook my head in dismissal as I tucked the larger tools beneath my arm. I turned and headed toward my truck which I'd parked in the narrow back driveway for easier access.

I put everything into the back tray. I was hungry and decided I had time to drive down the coast to my favourite café and order a coffee along with one of their mammoth roast beef and horse radish sandwiches. My stomach grumbled softly in agreement as I opened my truck's rear passenger door.

My next job wasn't until tomorrow. I had the entire afternoon and evening to myself which was an unexpected luxury I intended to enjoy to the fullest.

Since the rear windows were tinted, I could quickly change my dirt-smeared T-shirt and jeans in the relative privacy of the back seat without being seen. Mrs Greig had been a confirmed recluse, and no one ever came to the house except by her personal invitation.

If the old lady had still been alive, I knew I would've been invited inside to eat with her and hear more of her intriguing tales about her life. Time often became irrelevant as we talked. I'd often told her said she should have written her story down. Now, it was too late…

Since her death, I didn't feel it was right to invade her home uninvited. Over the last few months, I'd fallen into the easier habit of always keeping a clean set of clothes on hand, so I didn't have to drive all the way home to change.

I knew I could easily wash up in the café's restroom before I ate. My stomach grumbled again as I pulled the door shut behind me and put my hands on the hem of my T-shirt to strip it off...

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I quickly changed from my suit and tie and hung them up in the wardrobe with a sigh of relief. Closing the door on them almost felt like I was shedding the lawyer along with the clothes. I took a few moments to stand in the open window and breathe in the fresh, salty air. I inhaled a long breath and released it slowly. I could feel my whole body unwinding further and it was a great feeling.

I leaned against the window frame and looked down into the back garden. It was full of bright sunlight and deep shadows, and I didn't see her until she suddenly moved and stood up.

I couldn't see her clearly, because the sun was in my eyes, and she was still hidden in the deep shadows of the massive oak tree which dominated the rear of the backyard. I figured she must be the gardener my mother and Devon had been working with when I first arrived. Her dirt-smudged yellow T-shirt and grubby black jeans gave her profession away as did the digging fork in her gloved hand.

She visibly sighed as she cast the implement aside before pulling off her gloves and easing her back with a slow arching forward movement of her rib cage. Her small, softly rounded breasts pressed distractingly against the thin fabric of her T-shirt.

I grimaced as I felt my body tightening and tried not to stare. I frowned as she relaxed and picked up a bottle of water. She drank from it while pretending she wasn't watching me, watching her.

After a few moments, she shrugged and turned away to collect her scattered tools. I decided whoever she was, was no business of mine, even though her sweetly slender curves and dark hair intrigued me.

I didn't need any new feminine entanglements in my life. I simply didn't have the energy or the time to devote to any fresh relationship. That wasn't the way my hectic life was heading. I'd realised I was better off living alone and entanglement-free.

I turned away and walked from the bedroom. "Besides, I'm only here for two weeks and she's certainly none of my concern…"

"There you are…" My mother looked up the moment I walked into the kitchen. "That looks much better," she approved of my black jeans and T-shirt. "You seem much more relaxed already."

I nodded. "Thanks. I feel it too."

She smiled as she busied herself carrying plastic-covered bowls of salad ingredients from the huge double refrigerator to the island in the centre of the room. Devon was stirring something which smelled delicious in a large saucepan on the gas stovetop. My stomach growled approvingly at the aroma and the savoury smell of freshly baked garlic rolls wafting from the oven.

"Do you know if Kat's finished in the back garden?" my mother asked in a slightly too casual tone. "We left her out there when you arrived. It's getting too hot now for her to still be working."

I raised my brows at her. "Kat?" I pretended not to understand.

"She's our new gardener," she replied as she added cutlery, plates and napkins to the repast. "Well, she worked for the previous owner and sort of came with the house. So, we've hired her too. She's been working hard out there all morning. I bet she's starving by now. Why don't you go and ask her if she'd like to join us? There's more than enough food."

"Carolyn…" Devon warned from his position at the stove as he began to ladle whatever he was cooking into a large serving dish. "Edward's here to relax."

My mother pointedly ignored him as she took my arm and turned me toward the open back door. "It won't hurt if you go on out and ask her. If she's not there, she may've already gone to her truck. It's parked in the back driveway." She pushed me gently outside and turned her back on me.

"Blast…" I said softly as I did as I was bid with lagging steps.

Maybe this mysterious Kat, whom my mother was so keen for me to meet, had already driven away. I prayed that was the case. Then I wouldn't have to go through the pretence of looking for her. I truly didn't have time for any new emotional entanglements, especially those gently engineered by my loving mother who couldn't leave well enough alone.

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I pulled off my T-shirt and tossed it aside. I unsnapped the fastening and pushed down the zipper of my jeans. I'd just bent down to unlace my work boots and toe them off when a large shadow was cast across the tinted window beside me.

"Hello?" a man's deep voice queried. "Anyone in there?" He knocked on the door. "Are you Kat?"

"Yes…" I gasped, knowing he'd already seen my shadowy movements behind the tinted glass. "But hang on a minute…" I scrambled for a fresh T-shirt and pulled it on. 'Blast…'

However, my jeans were still undone, and I was half out of my work boots. I rolled my eyes, feeling unreasonably put out about the unwanted interruption.

"So much for getting changed in private," I grumbled.

I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment at being caught so unprepared as I quickly zipped up and fastened my jeans again before I bent down to retie my boots. Discomforted, I shoved open the door and stepped down, ready to do battle with the unwelcome intruder.

He was standing right beside the truck, looking down at me with wry amusement as he caught the abruptly opened door with one hand before it hit him in the face. He leaned closer, shutting me into the small space between the door and the high seat behind me. He was so much taller than me and my eyes were forced to travel all the way up over his well-muscled torso and strong tanned neck to finally reach his face.

I inhaled sharply, intending to give him a very large piece of my mind. But the moment my frowning gaze met his, I lost the power of speech which made me even more cross and feeling way out of my depth.

The wry humour that danced within the clear blue depths of his eyes made me hesitate. I'd never felt like I was drowning before in a single look of amused enquiry.

We stood there in the glare of the hot sun, and I was at a total loss over what to do next. I knew I should make my excuses, jump right back into my truck, climb over into the front seat and drive away. But my traitorous legs refused to obey. So, I stood there, trapped in that airless space, as I waited for him to say something to break the breathless spell.

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This close, Kat, the gardener was much smaller than she'd seemed when I first saw her in the back garden. She was barely an inch taller than my mother. Her dove grey eyes had tiny flecks of gold around the irises. I found that fact both enchanting and distracting. And the dusting of golden freckles across the bridge of her nose punched me low in the gut.

Not that I was looking, of course. Which I wasn't. I cleared my throat of my sudden, and curious, inability to speak.

I stepped back from being too close to her and extended my hand formally. "Hi, I'm Edward Bridges…" I shrugged. "My mother was concerned about you. She thought you might be hungry."

"Kat Morton," she offered baldly, barely touching her cool fingers to mine.

I dropped my hand and tilted my head at her, enjoying the look of feminine outrage in her frowning expression. "And are you?"

"Am I, what?" she replied, looking away as she tried to dust away the smudges of dirt on her jeans.

"Hungry," I persisted. "Mum wanted to know if you wanted to come inside and have lunch with us." I jerked my chin toward the open door to the kitchen.

"I…" She stopped brushing at her clothing and went back to scowling at me. "Thanks, but I've already made other plans."

She glanced down at the large, masculine watch on her left wrist. "And I'm already late." She moved sideways, taking the door from my slackened grasp and slamming it shut. "Maybe some other time…"

She left that statement and me hanging as she set off around the back of her truck with quick, determined strides and opened the driver's door. She jumped up behind the wheel and inserted the key into the ignition.

I wasn't used to being so summarily dismissed. Especially by a woman. I walked up behind her just as she was about to shut her door.

"Chicken…" I commented in a challenging tone designed to get her attention.

"Who's a chicken?" she bit immediately with a dismissive frown. "I just have somewhere else to be right now. I'm a very busy person."

"It was a perfectly civil invitation and you rejected it out of hand," I replied, taking control of the door so she couldn't slam it in my face and drive away. "I know my mother will be very disappointed you choose not to join us. Unless you truly do have somewhere more important to be."

I waited for a few heartbeats then dropped my hand. She now had the choice to stay or leave. I would not make any further moves to prevent her from doing so. But I knew I had her.

The slump of her slender shoulders gave her indecision away. It was an old courtroom tactic I'd learned very well. Make the witness think that what they did or said next was their own decision. It was an illusion that had always worked.

"All right…" she grouched, as she pulled the keys from the ignition and pocketed them. "Since it would disappoint Carolyn. But I'll need to clean up first." She brushed again at her dirty jeans. "I've got a clean pair in the back."

"I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind if you used the downstairs bathroom," I replied in a tone I struggled to keep neutral. "Don't be too long. Lunch is ready."

"Thank you," she replied stiffly as she shut the door with a snap. "You don't have to show me. I already know the way."

She went to the back seat, opened the door and snatched out a clean pair of jeans that were lying on the seat. She then slammed the door again and walked off ahead of me toward the house with her head held high.

I stood still for an arresting moment and watched her. I couldn't help admiring her trim back view and the delicious flex and release of the firm muscles in her softly rounded behind where her well-washed jeans clung close.

I pushed one hand up and around the back of my neck and blew a long, frustrated sigh. That's if I was looking. Which, of course, I wasn't…

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"Oh, good, you found her just in time…" Carolyn commented with a warm smile as I walked into the kitchen ahead of her ambling son who seemed to be in no hurry. "Come on in and sit down, you two. We're ready to serve."

"I wasn't that hard to find," I replied as I quickly slid onto my usual stool at the kitchen island.

It seemed odd to be sitting here without Mrs Greig's easy company. My grief was still too raw. A fresh wave of loss swept over me and I bit down on my inner bottom lip.

I'd quickly changed in the downstairs bathroom and left my dirty jeans outside on the wooden bench beside the door. I'd collect them when we'd finished eating and I could make good my escape from any unwanted scrutiny.

But Edward Bridges had lingered outside the bathroom door, waiting for me to emerge. He then followed me down the hallway and into the kitchen as if he feared I might still walk out and drive away. I could feel his eyes assessing my back view again as I sat down.

"Help yourselves." Carolyn handed out large white plates.

"Thank you. This all smells delicious," I replied, trying to neutralise the fraught situation as I ladled a helping of pasta and sauce onto my plate. I added some salad and I couldn't resist taking one garlic roll dripping with fragrant herbed butter.

"Coffee?" Devon asked me, holding up the pot. "Or would you like a glass of wine or fruit juice?"

"Fruit juice and coffee for me, please," I replied, as I settled back with my food.

I gave myself half an hour before I could decently make my excuses and leave this family to get on with their own business. I wasn't due back again for work in their garden until next week.

By then, I was sure Edward Bridges would have forgotten all about me. And I made a vow to avoid being alone in his distracting company until he returned to Boston. I wasn't looking for any fresh emotional entanglements. Certainly, none that had been gently engineered by the man's mother, however well-intentioned.

I was much better off concentrating on building up my business and becoming self-sufficient. That was where my immediate future lay. Not within the depths of a pair of distractingly gorgeous blue eyes…

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