It was still her favourite scent.
They drove out of town.Ethan tracked every car driving past, his hands tightening on the wheel when it was a dark-coloured car.
Surely they didn’t have to worry about someone coming towards them.If anything, they’d have a tail.
“How long’s your list?”Mila asked.
“Long.”She grinned.“We’ll just buy what we can fit in the back.”Which was a pretty decent space, and far bigger than her hire car boot.
“They might offer a delivery service,” Ethan said.
Good idea.Perhaps Aunt Maggie had been a regular customer since this nursery was the closest one to Honeybrook.
Maybe Chelsea should mention her aunt’s name.
Ethan pulled up in front of the nursery which had wide gates at the front and an entrance lined with pots overflowing with flowers and greenery.Towering gums shaded the building on the side and as they walked through they were greeted with several different paths to take, all lined with rows and rows of plants.
“This is incredible,” Mila said as she took a trolley from nearby.
Chelsea smiled as she took her own trolley, remembering the day Aunt Maggie first brought her here, gave her a trolley and told her she could fill it with whatever plants she wanted for her own garden bed.
It had been thrilling and nerve-wracking, and though Aunt Maggie had given her advice on what plants would suit the soil and the amount of sun the bed received, in the end, Chelsea had been able to buy anything she wanted.
Her first choice had been a banana passionfruit.
With a sad wistfulness she wandered towards the native plants.They would work for the garden beds she wanted to establish with little fuss.Then on to the annuals for those where she needed a pop of colour immediately, and then she spotted the banana passionfruit vine.
Her steps slowed.It wasn’t on her list of plants to buy, but the photo of the ripe fruit on the accompanying tag made her mouth water.
Ethan grabbed two and put them in his trolley.
She glanced at him.
“You’ll replace them eventually,” he said.“Might as well be now.”
Her heart ached.He kept doing things to show how well he knew her.It made her love him more.
Mila looked at the plant.“I’ve never heard of banana passionfruit.”
“It’s amazing,” Chelsea said.
They continued around, buying a couple of hedge plants for areas where the hedge had died, and some sweet-smelling honeysuckle and jasmine for areas where people would sit for extended periods.She’d done her research, making sure she bought plants that flowered at different times of the year, so the garden always had some kind of focal point.
“Are you landscapers?”the cashier asked as she rang up the purchases.
“No.”Chelsea smiled.“I’m restoring Lilydale Cottage in Honeybrook.”
“Maggie’s place?”the cashier asked.
“Yes.She was my great aunt.”
“Then you qualify for the same discount as she had.”
“Thank you.”
Despite the discount, Chelsea’s breath left her when the cashier rang up the total and Chelsea handed over her bank card.If more people stayed in her cottages, it would go a long way towards paying for the restoration.She doubted she’d see any money from Darren, despite his promises.
“I need to take some photos of the plants for social media.”
