Blue Dahlia

think?
    So she wouldn’t try to figure it out until she could think. Getting to her feet, she rubbed her damp palms on the thighs of her pants. For now, she’d go back to work, she’d order pizza, then go home to her boys. Go home to normal.
    She did better with normal.

ten

    HARPER SPADED THE DIRT AT THE BASE OF THE clematis that wound its way up the iron trellis. It was quiet on this edge of the garden. The shrubs and ornamental trees, the paths and beds separated what he still thought of as the guest house from the main.
    Daffodils were just opening up, with all that bright yellow against the spring green. Tulips would be coming along next. They were one of his favorite things about this leading edge of spring, so he’d planted a bed of bulbs right outside the kitchen door of his place.
    It was a small converted carriage house and according to every female he’d ever brought there, it was charming. “Dollhouse” was the usual term. He didn’t mind it. Though he thought of it more as a cottage, like a groundskeeper’s cottage with its whitewashed cedar shakes and pitched roof. It was comfortable, inside and out, and more than adequate for his needs.
    There was a small greenhouse only a few feet out the back door, and that was his personal domain. The cottage was just far enough from the house to be private, so he didn’t have to feel weird having overnight guests of the female persuasion. And close enough that he could be at the main house in minutes if his mother needed him.
    He didn’t like the idea of her being alone, even with David on hand. And thank God for David. It didn’t matter that she was self-sufficient, the strongest person he knew. He just didn’t like the idea of his mother rattling around in that big old house alone, day after day, night after night.
    Though he certainly preferred that to having her stuck in it with that asshole she’d married. Words couldn’t describe how he despised Bryce Clerk. He supposed having his mother fall for the guy proved she wasn’t infallible, but it had been a hell of a mistake for someone who rarely made one.
    Though she’d given him the boot, swiftly and without mercy, Harper had worried how the man would handle being cut off—from Roz, the house, the money, the whole ball.
    And damned if he hadn’t tried to break in once, the week before the divorce was final. Harper didn’t doubt his mother could’ve handled it, but it hadn’t hurt to be at hand.
    And having a part in kicking the greedy, cheating, lying bastard out on his ass couldn’t be overstated.
    But maybe enough time had passed now. And she sure as hell wasn’t alone in the house these days. Two women, two kids made for a lot of company. Between them and the business, she was busier than ever.
    Maybe he should think about getting a place of his own.
    Trouble was, he couldn’t think of a good reason. He loved this place, in a way he’d never loved a woman. With a kind of focused passion, respect, and gratitude.
    The gardens were home, maybe even more than the house, more than his cottage. Most days he could walk out his front door, take a good, healthy hike, and be at work.
    God knew he didn’t want to move to the city. All that noise, all those people. Memphis was great for a night out—a club, a date, meeting up with friends. But he’d suffocate there inside a month.
    He sure as hell didn’t want suburbia. What he wanted was right where he was. A nice little house, extensive gardens, a greenhouse and a short hop to work.
    He sat back on his heels, adjusted the ball cap he wore to keep the hair out of his eyes. Spring was coming. There was nothing like spring at home. The way it smelled, the way it looked, even the way it sounded.
    The light was soft now with approaching evening. When the sun went down, the air would chill, but it wouldn’t have that bite of winter.
    When he was done planting here, he’d go in and get himself a beer. And he’d sit out in the dark and the cool, and enjoy the solitude.
    He took a bold yellow pansy out of the cell pack and began to plant.
    He didn’t hear her walk up. Such was his focus that he didn’t notice her shadow fall over him. So her friendly “Hey!” nearly had him jumping out of his skin.
    “Sorry.” With a laugh, Hayley rubbed a hand over her belly. “Guess you were a million miles away.”
    “Guess.” His fingers felt fat and clumsy all of a sudden, and his brain sluggish. She stood with the setting sun at her back, so