Hang Tough(36)

“I am. I needed to remind your minion to take out the trash sooner, rather than later.”

“Hey, I’m not invited to the cocktail party?”

Garnet gave Tobin an arch look. “Were you cleaning out this room and boxing things up all afternoon? Nope. So you’re not invited to our celebration. Come on, Jade.”

As Jade passed by Tobin, he murmured, “We’ll have a private celebration later.”

But it turned out that “later” hadn’t meant later that night.

Tobin received a phone call during dinner, asking for his help rounding up some cattle that’d gotten loose, and he hadn’t returned by the time Jade had gone to bed.



The next afternoon, after Jade and GG finished cleaning out the last of the small room, GG insisted on celebrating with champagne. She immediately conked out on the love seat in the sitting room when she made her way downstairs to get a bottle.

At loose ends, Jade started dinner.

Right after she’d slipped the pan in the oven, she turned around only to discover that Tobin was right behind her. “Oh. Hello. You’re home early.”

“Whatever you’re making sure smells good.”

“A tomato and asparagus quiche. And a rustic savory tart—a modified version since I didn’t find many fresh herbs.”

“You been out to Miz G’s herb garden and looked around?”

“No. Why didn’t she tell me she had one? Where is it?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

She snagged a pair of scissors and a basket from the pantry before she followed Tobin out the back door.

The day had cooled. Late-afternoon sun shimmered across the tops of the trees, sending shards of golden light dancing across the red dirt. Birds chattered and swooped, catching bugs for their evening meal. She’d spent the morning watching puffy clouds building into a thunderhead only to see the tops sheared off by gusts of wind. She’d become so enthralled by the rapidly shifting power of nature that the bedding she’d brought outside to hang on the line had nearly been dry.

Her restlessness had been better today. But she didn’t kid herself that was due in part to the hours she’d spent cleaning, packing and hauling garbage.

They’d cleared the backside of the barn when she noticed three separate areas, evenly spread apart and enclosed in barbed wire. Jade was slightly dumbfounded. How had she missed this place? “This is some garden.”

“Miz G claims she’s doin’ half as much planting as she used to.”

“Still. It’s huge. Which one is the herb garden?”

“The new one in the far back.” Tobin pointed to the left. “That one has vegetables—some weird ones, mind you. That one over there”—he pointed to the right—“is flowers.”

“I wonder why she hadn’t mentioned this. This is like . . . heaven.”

“She probably thought you could use a break, bein’s you’re a cook in the city.”

“I am—I was—a prep cook. I chopped and measured and mixed. Not a lot of real cooking.”

Tobin shrugged. “Maybe that’s why. She doesn’t think you can cook.”

Jade paused at the gate to the herb garden. “Just because one of her houseguests doesn’t cook doesn’t mean the other one can’t or isn’t interested.”

“Ouch. But true.”

The earthy scents of wet soil and the humidity of growing things enveloped her. Jade picked her way around the plants—nothing had been planted in rows; there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to the groupings. She found the tarragon and snipped a few stems. Next she cut a few pieces of orange mint. Luckily GG had left the markers with some of the plants. She mentally catalogued rosemary, thyme, sage, two kinds of basil and parsley, dill, a bay leaf plant, cilantro and . . . what were those growing on the other side, almost hidden beneath the juniper tree?

Holy crap. She jumped back.

The heat from the front of Tobin’s body met her backside and he wrapped a beefy arm across her belly as if to protect her. “Did you see a snake? Probably just a garter snake. They’re harmless. But up on the ridge you’ll find rattlers. Some big ol’ boys, so steer clear of that area especially during the hottest part of the day.”

“No, I didn’t see a snake. I saw . . . those.”

Without letting go of her, he leaned sideways. He laughed. “Miz G is growing herself a little ganja.”

“Now I know why she didn’t mention her herb garden.” She took a breath. “I cannot believe my grandmother is growing pot! It’s against the law!”

“Maybe she doesn’t know what it is and thought it looked like a pretty plant?”