A Year and a Day (Harlequin Super Romance) by Cooper Inglath

Author:Cooper, Inglath [Cooper, Inglath]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
Published: 2011-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

ON THURSDAY MORNING, Audrey dropped Sammy off at school, then drove downtown to the City Gardener, parking in the lot next to the shop.

She got out of her car and opened the trunk, breathing a sigh of relief. She’d wrapped each of the pots in newspaper and bubble wrap, but a sharp turn could still have caused them to move enough to chip an edge. She pulled the paper back from one of the larger pots and smoothed a finger across the rim.

This last dozen contained some of what she thought were her best pots so far. She’d given up her painting early in her marriage. Jonathan had thought it a waste of time when she could be doing something active like tennis.

One day, she’d decided to spruce up an old flower pot, covering it with a coat of paint and then, on a whim, thinning another color and streaking it over the base. After letting it dry, she had smudged on some burnt umber for antiquing. When she was done, she sat staring at the pot, loving the muted colors, the layered finish.

It was the first thing in so long that had made her remember the person she had once wanted to be. Jonathan had seen her early efforts, declared them not bad if they never left the storage room of their basement. From that point, she had hidden her work from him, putting a pot out somewhere in the house occasionally just so he wouldn’t get suspicious about her hobby as he had defined it.

“Audrey?”

She swung around and found Nicholas Wakefield standing just behind her, holding an oversize briefcase. She touched a hand to her chest, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Actually, I’m meeting with a client a couple of blocks away. I saw you from across the street.”

She stared at him for a moment, searching for words. “It’s beginning to feel like you’re stalking me.”

“I would hope I’d be a little more subtle if that were the case,” he said, unruffled.

She quickly lowered the trunk lid.

Just then, Arthur Hughes came out of the store and trotted down the sidewalk, waving wildly, his lime-green shirt waging a color assault with his neon-orange pants. “Audrey, you princess! I just sold the last of your pots yesterday. Your timing could not be better!”

“Hi, Arthur,” she said, anxious now for Nicholas to leave.

“I saw you pull up. I was on the phone, or I’d have been out sooner to give you a hand. Um, hello,” he said, looking at Nicholas with ill-concealed appreciation.

Nicholas nodded politely.

“Since Audrey’s not going to bother with introductions—” Arthur aimed a playful swat her way “—I’ll be so bold. Arthur Hughes. I’m the proprietor. City Gardener,” he said, pointing back at the store. “Incidentally selling the hound out of Audrey’s lovely pots. Maybe I could interest you in one?”

“Ah, no,” Audrey said. “Mr. Wakefield really has to go.”

“Actually, I have a few minutes,” Nicholas said, glancing at his watch and then meeting Audrey’s gaze. “I’d love to take a look.

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