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“Fortunately, the ground broke my fall.”
He smiled faintly at her attempt at bravado. She could feel embarrassed heat flooding into her face and she reached up to grab his hand, keen to not be on her ass at his feet for a second longer than she needed to be. His firm hand closed around hers, and she rose to her feet almost effortlessly.
He was a big man, but she was a big woman. Clearly, he was packing some serious muscle under his butter-soft leather jacket.
“That’s a lot of tree you’re hauling there.”
“It’s not as heavy as it looks,” she lied.
He lifted an eyebrow and she knew he wasn’t buying her claim. Her backside was still aching and she desperately wanted to rub it. Instead, she put on her professional hat. Not the easiest thing to do with mud splashed up the legs of her oldest jeans and her butt throbbing.
“If you give me a few minutes, I’ll clean up and grab the keys to Tea Cutter Cottage for you.”
“What about your tree?”
“It’s not going anywhere.”
“That was kind of my point.” He surveyed the yard. “Where are you taking it?”
“I’ve dug a new site at the bottom of the property.”
She didn’t go into detail—Flynn would hardly want to hear about her plans for a fruit orchard and a vegetable garden that would eventually feed not only her but her guests—if they chose—as well as her family.
“You’re going to kill yourself getting it down there.”
Her eyes widened as he started pulling his jacket off.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?”
“But—but you’ll get all dirty.”
Her gaze took in his expensive-looking brown leather boots, his designer jeans and the black sweater he was wearing.
“I don’t mind.” He threw his jacket onto the grass nearby, then tugged his sweater over his head and tossed it on top. He was wearing a dark gray T-shirt underneath. It looked as though it was made of silk, which probably meant it was.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t let you ruin your clothes.”
“A little dirt never hurt anyone.”
He examined the tree for a beat. “The drop sheet was a good idea.” He stooped and grabbed the wad of canvas she’d been dragging, separating the corners out and offering her one. “Shall we?”
“No. No way.”
“If you don’t help me out, I’ll have to try to equal your Herculean solo effort and risk embarrassing myself if I fall short.”
She stared at him, utterly thrown by his offer and his apparently genuine desire to help her out.
“Okay. If that’s the way it has to be,” he said with a shrug. He bunched the two corners together again and started to pull the tree forward.
“Stop,” Mel said, moving to block his path.
He grinned and offered her a corner of the drop sheet again. She took it with a frown, which only seemed to amuse him even more.
“Thank you.” It came out a little grudgingly and she cleared her throat. “I really appreciate your help.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
She darted him a skeptical look but he didn’t look as though he was merely obeying the dictates of some masculine code of honor. He looked thoroughly in his element, as though this really was his pleasure.
Which was just plain strange, given who he was.
“On the count of three?” he said.
She took up the slack on her corner, and on his signal began to heave on the drop sheet. The difference in effort required was profound and she almost fell on her backside again.
“You okay?”
“Yes. I wasn’t expecting it to be this much easier.”
“I have a feeling I should probably be insulted by that. Do I look that anemic?”
It took her a moment to realize he was joking. She smiled uncertainly. “You don’t look anemic at all.”
He didn’t say anything but he continued to seem quietly amused as they dragged the tree down the lawn, across the garden path, behind Tea Cutter Cottage and through a gap in the screening trees to the large clearing she’d chosen for her fledgling orchard. Although covered with patchy grass, it had never had a real purpose or design—until now.
She directed him toward the shovel she’d left sticking out of a mound of dirt to the left of the clearing. They came to a halt beside the hole she’d dug that morning.
“Thanks for that,” she said, already turning to lead him to the main house so she could get him settled in.
“How are you going to get it in the hole?”
She paused. “The same way I got it out.”
Which had been through sheer determination and not a little swearing. But he didn’t need to know that.
“Come on, let’s do this.” He knelt beside the tree and began untying the twine she’d used to keep the hessian covering in place.
She stared at his down-turned head, baffled by his determination to be helpful despite the obvious risk to his clothes and his complete lack of obligation to her. He was her guest, after all. She was supposed to be at his beck and call, not the other way around.
“I’ve done this a few times over the years, but it’s always a bit heart-in-your-mouth, waiting to see if you’ve done more harm than good,” he said as he tugged at the twine. “It drives me crazy when people plant trees where they think they will look pretty rather than where they’ll grow well. A sixty-second conversation with someone in a garden center would have told them that citrus sinensis need sunlight, the more the better. How hard is it to ask the right questions if you don’t already know the answers?”
He glanced up at her to gauge her reaction and suddenly it hit her.
“You’re a gardener.”
The amused look was back in his eyes again. “You say that like it’s a miracle. Or at least about as likely as Bigfoot being real.”
“Sorry. It’s just not what I expected.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Let me guess. You had me pegged for a polo player, right? Maybe a yachtsman?” He spoke with an exaggerated British accent.
She smiled before she could catch herself. “Something like that.”
“My mother is a keen gardener. She recruited me as her slave when I was a kid, and I’ve been getting my hands dirty ever since.”
Mel dropped to her knees and pulled her penknife from her pocket, making short work of the knots he’d been tugging at without much success. He gave her a wry look and she shrugged apologetically.
He turned to inspect the hole she’d dug before glancing at her in an assessing way. “Would it offend you if I offered some advice?”
“I guess it depends on what it is.”
“The hole isn’t big enough. You want the soil around the roots to be a little loose and aerated, so the tree can grow new feeder roots easily.”
“You’re lucky I don’t slap your face,” she said, deadpan.
She immediately felt a dart of alarm. She’d always been a bit of a smart-ass—impossible not to be growing up with a father and a brother who took no prisoners when it came to teasing and pranks—but her quick tongue had consistently gotten her in trouble with her ex. Owen had hated it when she said something provocative or racy or pithy. He’d wanted her to be discreet and elegant and sophisticated, not mouthy and cheeky.
She waited for Flynn to signal that she’d overstepped the mark with her off-the-cuff response. Waited for the friendly smile to fall from his lips or for his blue eyes to turn cold. But he simply smiled at her appreciatively before pushing himself to his feet.
“I was wondering where your sense of humor had gotten to.”
She stared at him as he pulled the shovel from the mound of dirt. “Excuse me?”
“Your sense of humor. You always used to make me laugh.”
Her lips twisted. She knew what this was about. “You mean because I jumped in the fountain at the Hollands’ party?”
Flynn had started to dig, widening and deepening the hole, but he stopped to consider her. Almost as though he understood exactly how brightly that incident burned in her memory.
“I was under the impression that you fell in. And I didn’t think it was particularly funny until you took your bow. Hamish Greggs was an idiot for letting go of you. I hope he groveled at your feet the next day.”
She smiled grimly. “The Hollands ‘forgot’ to invite us to their black-and-white ball. I guess they were afraid I’d take a dive into their koi pond.”
“You’re kidding?” Flynn looked incredulous. Then he frowned. “I knew there was a reason I never liked them.”
For a moment she thought she’d misheard him, but the disgusted expression on his face was undeniable.
He didn’t blame her for the incident. He didn’t think she was vulgar or stupid or attention-seeking or clueless because she’d set out to help a woman in distress and wound up in the fountain. He didn’t think she’d gone out of her way to cause trouble. He was sympathetic. Maybe even supportive.
The shovel hit a rock, the metal ringing loudly, and she realized she was simply watching while her guest sweated over a hole in the ground. She shook her head, wishing she could shake off the past as easily.
“Here. I should be doing that,” she said, striding forward.
“If it gets to be too much for me I promise to send up a flare.”
“You’re my guest.” She reached out to grab the shovel from him.
“What are you going to do? Wrestle me for the shovel?” he asked.
“I was hoping you’d realize I was right.”
“Would it help at all if I told you that I’m enjoying myself? That I’ve had a really shitty couple of weeks and that digging a nice big hole and getting some dirt under my nails is exactly what the doctor ordered?” His tone was light but there was something in his eyes that told her he wasn’t joking.
She let her hand fall to her side and retreated from the hole. “Okay. If you insist.”
He set to it again, his biceps flexing powerfully as he drove the shovel into the earth. Mel watched him, twitchy and uncomfortable with being forced into the role of spectator.
“You’re about to break out in hives, aren’t you?” he asked after a couple of minutes.
“I’m used to doing things for myself.”
He drove the shovel into the ground and left it there. “Then you’ll be pleased to know I’m done.”
Mel bit her lip and looked at him, aware that there was a very real chance that she was coming across as a surly ingrate. “I do appreciate the help. You’ve been incredibly generous…?.”
He waved a hand, effectively dismissing her words. “Let’s get this baby in the ground where she belongs.”
She didn’t even bother arguing with him this time. Between the two of them they lifted the tree upright so it sat on its root ball. She squatted to get a grip on the roots, digging her gloved fingers into the dirt and clay, while Flynn did the same on the other side of the tree.
“Okay. One, two, three,” she said.
They both lifted and shuffled toward the hole at the same time.
“Slowly,” Flynn said as the tree started to slide into the hole.
Mel shifted her grip to the trunk to try to control its descent, earning a face full of leaves for her efforts. She felt rather than saw the tree hit bottom and sat back on her heels with a relieved sigh. Flynn did the same on his side of the hole. After a beat he leaned to one side so he could make eye contact with her around the foliage.
“Thanks for letting me help.”
She couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks for insisting.”
He pushed himself to his feet and then they filled in the hole and watered the tree into its new site.
“There. Done,” Flynn finally said, thrusting the shovel into the earth one last time.
Mel pushed a stray curl out of her eyes and considered her orange tree. In its new position, it would get close to eight hours of clear sunlight a day. With a bit of luck, she might even get fruit this summer.
Reaching out a hand, she patted the trunk affectionately. “Over to you. Show us what you’ve got, baby,” she said quietly.
Then she remembered she had an audience. When she glanced at Flynn, he was trying to hide a smile.
“Okay. So I talk to my plants occasionally,” she admitted sheepishly.
“I read my tomatoes Shakespeare one year.”
“Yeah, right.” She squinted at him, sure he was making fun of her.
