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WHEN THE PARTY was over, and the guests on their way hoo up to her rooms, where she would just pace and rehash and twist herself up over this personal hu of coffee and took it out on the patio to enjoy the cool and the solitude With the heaters hu, she sat down to sip, to enjoy and ry with her, she knew Angry because she&039;d held hi Bryce froh - and bless his heart, he was a man on top of it - to believe that brute force could solve this particular probleh to chain his temper down because she&039;d asked
At least this tile other time Bryce had attempted to enter Harper House without invitation, she&039;d been too shocked to hold Harper off Or David, for thatass, and she was sain some satisfaction from the way her boy had hauled the man out But what had it solved?
Bryce had accomplished then just what he&039;d accomplished this round He&039;d upset her
How long, she wondered, just how godda was she supposed to pay for one stupid, reckless mistake?
When she heard the door open behind her, Roz tensed up She didn&039;t want to rehash this nasty little business with David or Harper, didn&039;t want a man to pat her head and tell her not to worry
She wanted to sit and brood alone
"I don&039;t know about you, but I could use some chocolate"
Surprised, Roz watched Stella set a tray on the table "I thought you&039;d gone up to bed"
"I always like to deco party Then there was theout there in the kitchen, calling my name"
She&039;d brewed tea, Roz noted, and reht coffee And she&039;d arranged the leftover truffles on a pretty plate
"Hayley would be down, too, but Lily woke up SheIt&039;s beautiful out here Middle of December, and it&039;s just so beautiful Not even much of a bite to the air yet"
"Did you practice the small talk, decide you&039;d open with the weather?"
There had been a ti back But those days were over "I always figure the weather&039;s a good starter, especially for a couple of gardeners I was going to segue into how spectacular the poinsettias are this year, but I guess we&039;ll skip that part"
She selected a truffle, bit in "But the chocolate was just a natural, all around God, whoever invented these should be canonized"
"Ask Hayley If she doesn&039;t knoho made the first chocolate truffle, she&039;ll find out" Since the chocolate was there, Roz couldn&039;t coood reason not to have one
"I&039;ve been here nearly a year now," Stella began
"Is this your way of leading up to asking for a raise?"
"No, but good idea I&039;ve worked for you for nearly a year, lived in the saer than I intended"
"No point in etthat, andit easy for h I&039;an&039;s place - especially now that I&039;ve been gettinghere So will the boys"
"It&039;s nice to hear"
"Even with everything that went on last spring, maybe in some ways because of it, I&039;m attached to this house And to you"
"That&039;s nice to hear, too You have a sweet heart to go with that orderly mind of yours, Stella"
"Thanks" She sat back in her chair, cupping her tea in both hands Her flower-blue eyes were directly on Roz&039;s "Living with and working for you for nearly a year, I know your s I know is that despite your generosity, your hospitality, you&039;re a very private wo into that private area when I say I&039;ht I&039;ry and just a little bit stunned that some asshole would walk into your ho you"
When Roz said nothing, Stella took a long breath "So, if you&039;re in the mood to eat truffles and trash the son of a bitch, I&039;d be happy to listen If you&039;d rather sit out here alone, and let it fester, then I&039;ll take my tea and half these chocolates upstairs"
For a ht, what the hell, and had another chocolate "You know, having lived here all my life, I have a number of friends, and a bevy, we could say, of acquaintances But I haven&039;t had what you ht call close, important female friends There&039;s a reason for that - "
She lifted a finger, wagged it before Stella could speak "The reason beingits roots in being ed young So many of my social circle, in the fe, attractive, fairly well off - and available Or so they assuer, just innately, to pair me up with a man A friend, a brother, a cousin, whatever I found both of those attitudes annoying As a result, I got out of the habit of having close women friends So I&039;m a little rusty I consider you a friend, the best I have of the female persuasion"
"Since I feel the same about you, I wish you&039;d let s about that fucking Bryce Clerk and bring you chocolate"
"Why, Stella" Roz&039;s voice was as creamy as the truffles "I believe that&039;s the first time in this entire year I&039;ve heard you say fuck"
Stella flushed a little, the curse of redheads "I reserve it for special occasions"
"This is certainly that" Roz tipped her head back and studied the stars "He didn&039;t do it to embarrass me That was just a side benefit"
"Then why? Did he think, could he actually be stupid enough to think you&039;d have let hiht ive hiears of whatever "
"If so, he couldn&039;t know you very well to have underestiot exactly what he was after tonight The young woman he had on his arm? She&039;s very wealthy, and very silly Chances are she&039;ll feel soht"
"Then she&039;s more than silly She&039;s bone stupid"
"Maybe, but he&039;s an accomplished liar, and slick as a snake I&039;m not silly or stupid, and I fell for it"
"You loved him, so - "
"Oh, honey, I didn&039;t love hiht of it "I enjoyed the attention, the flattery, and initially at least, the ro case of e My own fault that I went and ot bored, or saas under that pretty exterior"
"I don&039;t know if that makes it worse or better," Stella said after a moment
"Neither do I, but it is what it is In any case, he wanted to remind me he exists, that he can and does swim in the same social pond He wanted, primarily, for me to be upset and to think about him Mission accomplished He has a need for attention, to have attention focused on hiive hinore him, which I&039;ve done, fairly successfully, since he caht was a way, a very clever way, of shoving hiuests"
"I wish I&039;d gotten there quicker I was nearly at the other end of the house when I heard the ruet any sort of satisfaction out of being turned away, in public, the way I heard you turned him away"
"You don&039;t know Bryce He&039;ll dine off the incident for weeks Center of attention, and he has a sainst her teacup "Before he&039;s done, he&039;ll be the underdog All he&039;d done was try tothe holidays and all And what had I done but rebuffed hiuest"
She stopped a e "People will say: &039;My goodness, how cold and hard, how ungracious and rude of her&039; "
"Then people are idiots"
"Yes, indeed they are Which is why I rarely socialize with them And why I&039;ve been so particular in rateful to have one ould sit out here withchocolate truffles while I feel sorry forbreath "And dao on up Get so to have us a busy day to with the regular custo herself in work Roz called it doing what needed to be done and enjoying everyherself in for hours, even days in a greenhouse and starting new life, nurturing it along Her seedlings, and cuttings, sprouts started by layering or leaf buds She loved the ses of progress
There were pests and probleainst here, just as there were in life When she caught signs of downy mildew or rusts, she snipped off the infected leaves, sprayed the plants She checked air circulation, adjusted tens of rot or virus were systematically removed and discarded She would not allow infection here, any more than she allowed it in her life
It soothed her to work, and to remember that She had cut Bryce off, discarded hih, h, so even now she was forced to guard and control
But she was strong, and the life she&039;d built was strong enough to withstand these s of that, she finished her list of tasks for the day, then sought out Harper
She slipped into his grafting house, knowing he wouldn&039;t hear her right away, not with Beethoven soaring for the plants, and whateverin his headset
She took a moment, a moment that made her feel tender, to watch hirubby boots - he&039;d have been out in the field off and on that day, she realized
He&039;d gotten a haircut recently, so all that glossy black fell in a sleeker,that would last? If she knew her boy - and she did - he&039;d forget about that little groo a piece of raffia to tie his hair back while he worked
He was so competent, so creative here Each of her sons had his own talent, his own direction - she&039;dlove for gardening
She h the tables croith plants and tools and raft a miniature rose
When he&039;d finished the specimen, reached for the can of Coke that was always nearby, she moved into his line of vision
She saw him focus on her as he sipped
"Nice job," she said "You don&039;t often do roses"
"Experiht be able to have a section for container-grown round-cover specimens Want a Coke?"
"No, thanks" He was so ht How many times had she heard that polite, cool tone come out of her own mouth when she was irritated "I know you&039;re upset withupset"
"Point isn&039;t, well, the point, is it?" She wanted to stroke his shoulders, rub her cheek to his But he&039;d stiffen, just as she would if someone touched her before she was ready to be touched
"You&039;re angry with the way I handled things last night With the way I wouldn&039;t let you handle them"
"Your choice" He jerked a shoulder "And I&039;m not mad at you I&039;m disappointed in you, that&039;s all"
If he&039;d taken his grafting knife and stabbed it into her heart, she&039;d have felt less pain, less shock "Harper"
"Did you have to be so goddaiven hi ood would - "
"I don&039;t give ashit about what good, Mama" The infamous Harper temper smoldered in his eyes "He deserved to have his clock cleaned, right on the spot You should&039;ve let me stand up for you But it had to be your ithSo what is the damn point?"
She wanted to turn away, to take a moment to compose herself, but he deserved better He deserved face-to-face "There&039;s no one in this world who can hurtto hurt you"
"No, you&039;re not You wouldn&039;t That&039;s how I know just how angry you are And how I can see where it co" She lifted her hands to rub them over her face "I don&039;t know, but it&039;s the only way I know I had to get hi you to understand that Ihad to get him out of our house, quickly and before he&039;d sain"
She dropped her hands, and her face was naked with regret "I brought him into our home, Harper I did that, you didn&039;t"
"That doesn&039;t mean you&039;re to blame, for Christ&039;s sake, or that you have to handle so like that by yourself If you can&039;t depend on me to help you, to stand up for you - "
"Oh, God, Harper Here you are, sitting in here thinking I don&039;t need you when half the tiood I don&039;t knohat I&039;d do without you, that&039;s the God&039;s truth I don&039;t want to fight with you over hiers to her eyes "He&039;s nothing but a bully"
"And I&039;m not a little boy you have to protect from bullies anymore, Mama I&039;m a man, and it&039;s my job now to protect you Whether you want it or not And whether you daain, nearlyain, you won&039;t stop me"
She drew a breath, then framed his face with her hands "I know you&039;re a man It pains me sometimes, but I know you&039;re a man with his own life, his oays I know you&039;re a man, Harper, who&039;ll stand beside h you&039;d rather stand in front of h she knew she wasn&039;t quite forgiven, she pressed a kiss to his forehead "I&039;arden Don&039;t stay "