When Nina got home from work that afternoon with a flat of pansies, bags of soil and peat, they hauled their pots out of storage. One day, Morgan thought, she wanted window boxes. But she also wanted new shutters, and a cute little front porch.
By her calculations, she could afford all that the following spring. And for now, pots of pansies filled the bill.
“Tell me more about this Luke.”
With her hoodie zipped against the not-quite-April breeze, Morgan tamped down soil around happy-faced pansies.
“Not much to tell really. He’s an IT guy, and must be good at it or his company wouldn’t send him out for weeks and months at a time to take on a territory. Or whatever they’d call it. Plus, he dresses well. Not snotty well, just well.”
“You said he was gorgeous.”
“I did, because true. Good manners, friendly. Two-beer limit. It’s a pizza date with a traveling man, Nina. We’re not picking out china.”
Nina pushed up her sun hat. “When was your last pizza date, or date of any kind?”
“Don’t go there.”
“You don’t go there because you always smile and say no. Why did you say yes? Because gorgeous?”
Morgan shrugged, a little sheepishly. “It doesn’t hurt. I can be shallow. But he’s interesting, and he doesn’t just talk. He listens. It’s nice. I think he’s nice.”
“And temporary.”
“Yes, and temporary, and that’s a plus right now. It’ll also be nice in say, five, six, maybe seven years to go for permanent.”
Her eyes, bottle green like the Colonel’s, went a little dreamy.
“Fall in love, take some time, think about starting a family. I’ve got to get me done first. God, these flowers are so sweet! How smart was I to get a gardener as a housemate?”
“The smartest. When my time comes—and Sam is definitely leading the pack—I want a big, crazy garden, so I have to have a big yard. Little house, no problem, but a big, giant yard.”
She lay back on the cool grass. “Shade trees and ornamentals, paths meandering through cutting gardens and butterfly gardens. Crazy birdhouses and water features. I want the works.”
Morgan stretched out beside her. “We should get a crazy birdhouse. I’m not sure what a cutting garden is, but now I want one.”
“I can make that happen.” She reached over, gave Morgan’s hand a squeeze. “I do love it here. Not the big, giant yard of my dreams, but it’s full of potential. Especially since you let me have my way.”
“We play to our strengths.”
“You should ask Gorgeous Guy over for dinner.”
“We don’t cook.”
“We can put something together. I can ask Mama for something simple but impressive. She’ll know. We’ll clean this up, then go in and figure out what you’ll wear on your date.”
“It’s just pizza, Nina.”
“Today pizza, tomorrow who knows? We play to our strengths,” Nina reminded her as she sat up. “Dating is my area. I think casually sexy for pizza date with Gorgeous Traveling Man.”
“I may not have anything that hits that mark.”
“Trust me, I can make that happen, too.”
* * *
She’d wondered if Gorgeous Traveling Man would breeze into the Round on Saturday night—then asked herself what it meant about her that she was disappointed he didn’t.
She told herself it was just as well, as they’d been slammed again. And she’d picked up a short afternoon shift when the Sunday bartender had an emergency appendectomy.
She’d gone straight from work to Nina’s family dinner, enjoyed some amazing paella, a lot of laughs.
After work on Monday, she biked home. Since she’d spent part of her brief downtime over the weekend checking and rechecking her finances, projecting how much she could afford, she’d talked to her office-manager job boss about the costs of taking down the wall, redoing the kitchen—new appliances, new counters, new cabinets. The works.
With that number in mind she biked home, adjusting her plans to fit those finances. Paint the cabinets instead of replacing—for now, because she refused to give up the kitchen island of her dreams.
When she parked her bike, Nina came to the front door.
“You’re cutting it close.”
“I’ve got an hour and a half. Nearly.”
“Get in here, amiga mia. We’ve got work to do. I’m doing your makeup.”
“I know how to do my makeup.”