Tuesday, 16th August 2022
Jamie was done with the front yard; it was weeded and ready for being redesigned. He'd contacted someone to come and give the tall trees a proper cleaning up, but he'd done the weeding a little at a time, his skin now a warm brown from working in the sun every day. There were some plants he'd decided to get rid of – he wanted to bring it back to a cottage garden; he'd yanked out anything that didn't hold with that aesthetic. A few things he'd transplanted into the back yard with the hope that they survived and the rest had gone into pots on the front fence free to any good home. They'd all gone within a few days; well established plants for free were always popular.
He was now standing in the middle of the biggest garden centre in their part of London wearing one of Roy's tops because he didn't have his incognito clothes at Platypus Green, no one gave a guy in boring jeans and a black top with a baseball cap on a second look in a garden centre. No one expected to meet Jamie Tartt there so he was left alone to walk back and forth with his trolley. He had a second trolley sitting with the staff and he was standing in the bulb aisle working out what he really wanted to plant. He'd made sure most of the plants would be an attraction for bees and birds. He'd stopped before here to buy a birdbath and garden bench at a second-hand garden store he'd found online. He'd wanted them to suit the house.
His phone rang and Jamie rolled his eyes…he didn't think he could ignore it for a third time.
"Hi, Roy," Jamie said.
"Where are you?" Phoebe asked.
Jamie was surprised. "Phoebe, hi."
"You're not at Platypus Green, where are you?"
"I'm buying some things for the garden."
"Without me?"
Jamie smiled. "I didn't think you liked gardening."
"I thought I was your deputy?"
"Does the deputy want to come to the garden centre or would they prefer to see the plants later."
"Uncle Roy, we're going to a garden centre."
Jamie could hear a grumble through the line then a shuffle before Roy's voice came down the line. "What's the address?"
"I'll text it to you."
"Don't drop a pin, that was harder than it fucking needed to be."
"Okay, Grandad."
Roy growled and Jamie hung up on him. He realised, everything was going to fit in Roy's car much better so depending on how precious Roy was going to be about it, he might not have to organise delivery.
Twenty minutes later, Phoebe found Jamie, rushing towards him with pigtails flying. She threw herself at his middle in a hug which Jamie happily returned.
"I was looking at pictures on Uncle Roy's phone," Phoebe told him. "Do you think we could do and trellis in the front with something that climbs?"
Jamie nodded, re-assessing his plans. He knew that if Roy sold the house to him, he'd need to put in a second fence and gate for greater security but he would still know the trellis was there. "What if we put wisteria or a climbing rose on it?"
Phoebe nodded. "I don't know what they are."
"Come with me," Jamie said, heading back towards the plants. Roy reached out and took the trolley's handle, Jamie cocked an eyebrow but Roy took the trolley and followed behind them. "I bought a birdbath and a garden bench for the front yard."
"Why?" Roy asked, gruffly.
Jamie looked at him.
"You should have told me so I could buy it."
Jamie blinked at him. "It's okay, weren't much."
"Give me the receipt."
"Yeah, alright," Jamie said with a shrug.
Roy nodded, looking at Jamie for a beat longer.
"I pulled out some of the plants," Jamie told Phoebe after he pulled his eyes away from Roy.
"I saw, why?"
"I'm going to make it a cottage garden again, lots of different plants in a riot of colours…then the bench under the alder tree. I organised a guy to come out and trim it expertly."
"Make sure the bill comes to me," Roy told him. "You don't have to pay for it."
"It's my…I'm enjoying it, and I didn't tell you…probably shoulda."
"You're the designer."
Jamie dropped his head and smiled.
"I put some of them out the back," Jamie said. "And then we're going to fill in the garden with this and the other cart."
"Other cart?" Roy asked, looking at the very full trolley he was pushing.
Jamie nodded. "You're going to love it in spring."
Roy looked up at Jamie and then down at all of the plants, before he nodded.
Jamie expected to be reminded that they wouldn't see the garden in spring, but Jamie didn't care; he was making this house a home – hopefully his home, whether Roy liked it or not.
"This is a climbing rose," Jamie said, showing Phoebe the plants. "If you train them to climb and then when they bloom, they are very colourful and should smell good."
"I want to put a chair in the garden where I can read," Phoebe told him. "A treehouse would be better, but my research suggests that that would be hard in London."
"The wisteria is over there," Jamie said, stepping away…Roy didn't follow behind them, but Jamie kept going, showing Phoebe the plant and then pulling up a picture on his phone to show her. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then walked back over to the roses.
"Do you think we could plant yellow on one side and purple on the other?" she turned to look at Roy who wasn't listening and then towards Jamie.
"Of course," Jamie said, looking through until he tracked down a purple variety and a yellow one. He looked at the yellow one critically…it might not survive but it was the only one left and if needs be he'd replace it without Phoebe knowing. He pulled out all of the purple ones. "Pick the one you like best."
Jamie put the yellow one in the trolley and Roy started.
"You okay?" Jamie asked.
Roy nodded. "Just realised I haven't organised someone to check the trees in the backyard for disease."
Jamie frowned. "Good idea."
"This one," Phoebe said, bending to pick up the pot and walking over slowly.
Jamie reached out and scooped it out of her arms. "Perfect, we're all done."
Roy nodded and started pushing the trolley back towards the front of the store. In the end they needed to organise a delivery for the larger plants but Roy allowed everything else to be put into his car.
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