“Your mom and dad were a little worried about you when they got up and you were gone this morning.”
“My mom and dad, huh?” Peggy sat back on her heels, closed her eyes, and let the sun bake her face.
“I was a little worried, too.”
“Sorry.”
“Would you like to elaborate?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Did you know that taking care of the plants in Latta Arcade and Brevard Court was the first landscaping contract I got when I opened the shop?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“I was so thrilled. I called Darmus, and he made me dinner that night. I ended up crying all over him because I’d done something wonderful without John. Because he missed it.”
Steve looked away. “I’m sorry.”
She briefly explained what Holles told her. “I have to tell someone before the memorial.”
“I know. I understood that last night at the nightclub when Darmus disappeared. You don’t have any choice.”
“I hate it!” She shoved a spade into the dirt, digging away until there was room to replant the begonia she’d taken out. “I hate knowing about it.”
He started to speak but only ended up opening and closing his mouth.
“But no one else knows. Holles isn’t going to come forward. It has to be me.”
He picked up her hand and kissed it, dirt and all. “I’ll be there with you.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at him and pushed dirt around the begonia’s roots. “At least I have good backup.”
“Always.” He studied her sun-flushed face for a long moment, then said, “That’s why everyone is there for you, Peggy. Because you’re there for everyone.”
“That was nice.” She kissed his cheek. “The kiss was nice, too. But now you’ll have to wash the inside of your mouth with antibacterial soap. There are germs in the soil.”
“I feel like living dangerously today.” He bent lower and kissed her lips. “Mmm. Dirt flavor.”
“I warned you.”
He stood up. “Can I help you get your stuff together? You’ve only got about an hour until the service.”
She grimaced. “You could help me get off this brick. I think I’ve been down here too long.”
He gave her his hand and pulled a little. “Okay? Want me to take the bag of potting soil?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You know this will only get worse, don’t you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You and me. I’ll always be a little older, which may not
“Later, we’ll both be older.”
“But I’ll always be at the front of that race. My knees are going. I can’t get around as fast as I used to.”
“Thank God!” He rolled his eyes skyward. “I can barely keep up as it is! You’re a human dynamo, Peggy. Get older. Slow down. I don’t care. I love you. But you may not want to put up with me once you hear my terrible secrets.”
“What kind of secrets?”
“I’ll tell you when you get older. Maybe your hearing will go out first so you won’t know what I’m saying.”
She picked up her spade and discarded gloves from the warm redbrick courtyard, feeling a little lighter at heart. “Don’t tell me, you once killed a beagle.”
“No.”
“You once took money for killing a beagle but couldn’t do it?”
He stopped and stared at her. “What if it was something really bad, like Darmus? There might be something in my past that will come back to haunt me.”
She hugged him. “I guess if you can love me with bad knees, no teeth, and white hair, I can love you with your terrible secret.”
“No teeth?” He squirmed. “I never said anything about
They laughed, and the moment passed for Peggy, lost in the sunshine and the sudden feeling of not being alone to sort out the mess Darmus had made of his life. She looked at Steve, and noticed how the corners of his brown eyes crinkled up as he squinted in the sun. She didn’t know how she got so lucky twice in a lifetime, but she thanked God for it. And it gave her strength to do what needed to be done.
Steve pulled out of the parking area behind the shop as she was locking the back door. She could hear church bells ringing sweetly in the quiet of Sunday in uptown Charlotte. A few joggers went by, breathlessly waving as they passed the shop on College Street.
Peggy was thinking about going home and taking a shower before she put on her deep purple Chanel suit and
