“That’s why I’m annoyed. It was a new addition,” I said wryly. “It is lovely.”
“So lovely,” she echoed. “Smells good, too.”
I paused after putting one tomato plant in the trailer. She was besotted with it, that much was clear.
“What if I can’t make her happy?” … “You never know unless you give it a bloody good go.”
Grandpa’s words flitted through my brain as I looked at her.
“Do you want it?”
She jerked upright. “What do you mean?”
“For your garden. It’s not too late to buy more tubers, and they flower through the end of October, so it’ll give you long-lasting blooms. If you really like it, you can have it, and I’ll see if I can order more for you.”
“Really?” She took a step forward but stopped herself. “I can have it for my project?”
I picked up a tomato plant and plucked off a sucker before meeting her eyes. “Would it make you happy?”
Gabriella nodded, and her hair fell out from behind her ear. “Very much so.”
“Then it’s yours.” I held her gaze for a moment, smiling, then looked away.
Maybe I could make her happy.
I could just give her a plant, evidently.
“What are you doing?” She walked over to me and peered over my shoulder, still keeping her hands to herself.
I looked down at her. “Plucking suckers.”
“That’s either entirely innocent or not at all, and if it’s the former, I’ve watched far too much television lately.”
I fought a laugh. “Tomato suckers.”
“Oh.”
“They’re all ready to go to their final places in the polytunnel now they’re big enough.” I put the one I’d done down and grabbed another. This one was riddled with suckers, so it was easy enough to find one to show her. “I only grow indeterminate tomatoes, so I have to take off the suckers or you end up with a monster plant.” I took one of the main stems between my finger and thumb and turned so I was almost facing her. “You see this bit?”
“The little bit growing out from the middle?”
“That’s it. That’s a sucker. I just pinch it out and it won’t grow again.” I did just that, showed it to her, then dropped it in the bucket. “That one will just produce leaves now, not fruit.”
“Don’t you want it to do fruit?”
“I do. But you see these two stems here?” I tapped the top of the plant where the single stem broke off into two. “These are the main ones. I want these two to bear the fruit, not all the other ones that pop up. The plant will be stronger and better if it’s somewhat controlled.”
“Oh, that makes sense. You can plant the suckers, can’t you?”
I nodded and pulled off the remaining ones. “I don’t at this size because they’re too small, but there are always a few that get away from us. I put those in water, let them root, and plant them up.”
“Interesting.” Her arm brushed against mine as she looked over. “What tomatoes are they?”
“San Marzano. Plum tomatoes. Good for making sauces with.”
“Mm. Yummy.”
She still didn’t move.
I looked down at her. “Do you really have nothing else to do?”
“Sadly, I do not. That’s why I’m in college. So I can get a job and not be so bloody bored all the time.”
“You could get a job now.”
“There’s a problem with that.”
“Which is?”
“All the available ones involve other people, and I’m not really a fan of those.”
I choked back a laugh. “Would you like to help me?”
“You let me in your greenhouse and you’re letting me help you?” She leaned back. “Who are you, and what have you done with the real Miles? And can I keep this one?”
I grabbed a tomato plant. “Be quiet and do as you’re told.”
“Yes, sir.” She grinned at me cheekily, and her brown eyes literally shone with happiness when she took the plant from me. “This is fun.”
I kept an eye on her as she pinched out the suckers and broke off the lower leaves at my direction. She was genuinely enjoying herself, and every now and then she looked up at me and smiled.
Shit. I was a goner.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – GABRIELLA
He was looking at me.
All the time.
I could see him.
I had no idea why I’d come down here. After our last conversation in my secret garden, I’d honestly wanted to hide away and not see him for a while.
Unfortunately, I was an adult, and that wasn’t an option.
I knew he was struggling with whatever was going on between us. It felt like an age since the goats had escaped and he’d been rude to me, yet at the same time, it felt as though it was just yesterday.
Our relationship had changed so much without really changing at all.
That was how it felt to me, at least.
I didn’t do well with uncertainty. The strength of my feelings for Miles scared me, but I also wasn’t going to wait around for him to decide if he could get over himself or not.
I lied. I knew why I was here.
It was to tell him that. To tell him to make a choice because I wasn’t a bloody blanket on a shelf at the shop, and he couldn’t pick me up and put me down as he pleased.
It wasn’t enough for him to reciprocate my feelings. He had to believe there was something between us that could work.
And I was going to say all that.
I was. I swear.
And then… I saw him.
Like a freaking baby, I saw him, and I couldn’t do it. I could only smile at him like a stupid little girl because he was smiling at me and he let me in his greenhouse.
Why did he let me in here?
Why did he give me that dahlia?
Why was he letting play with his tomato plants?
All those questions rolled on the tip of my tongue, but none of them would escape.
Was there any point? I didn’t think he would give me any answers anyway.
I’d always thought my crush on him was futile.
Now that I was here, with real feelings, it seemed like I’d been right all along.
I took the lower leaves off the last tomato plant that would fit in the trailer and handed it to Miles. He put it in and looked back at me.
“Are you coming?” he asked, motioning to the quad bike.
“Oh, no, it’s fine.” I smiled and stepped back. “I’ve bugged you enough.”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t okay with it.”
“No, I’ll just slow you down. Plus, I need to find a home for my new friend over there.” I cocked my thumb in the direction of the dahlia then turned to get it. I picked up the pot and stopped.
I was going to ask him.
I had to know.
“Miles?”
“Yeah?”
I met his eyes, hugging the dahlia pot to my body. “This isn’t going to happen, is it? You and I.”
He stared at me.
There was no answer.
That, in itself, was one.
“Okay. It’s fine.” I forced a smile and backed out of the greenhouse, hitting the side of some staging on the way and quickly stopping a tray of small pots from falling. “I just needed to know.”