A Family For Easter

“Wipe your feet, and say please and thank you, and be quiet inside the house.” Sofia recited the list with an eye roll that previewed the teen she would soon become.

“Good.” From the glove box, Eduardo pulled out two bags of mazapán, a round and chewy Mexican candy one of his aunts always sent them in quantity. He handed a bag to each child. “These are to share with everyone after we check with Mrs. Farmingham. She and I are going to be talking about work before we check out the carriage house, so I need you to be self-reliant. You can interrupt us if it’s an emergency.”

“Like fire or blood,” Diego said, and Eduardo let out a short laugh. He should never have said that to the kids, but one night when he’d been working on the books for his landscaping business, he’d ordered his whining kids to watch TV and only disturb him under those circumstances.

Of course, that’s what they remembered. “Right,” he said, “or anything else that you think is important. You both have good judgment.”

“Can we go now?” Sofia asked, and Eduardo looked at the house and saw that Fiona had come out onto the porch, holding Poppy on her hip. The other three kids were already on the stairs.

“Go ahead,” he said, taking his time about gathering up his tablet and a couple of plant catalogs.

He climbed out slowly. Fiona stood listening to his kids, and he saw her smile and nod. Sofia and Diego distributed pieces of candy all around and gave the rest of the bags to Fiona; then all of the kids took off for the big side yard.

Fiona was wearing jeans and a puffy kind of blouse, light green, that made her red hair glow. Behind her, the old two-story Victorian mansion rose in splendor.

It was exactly the kind of house he’d have bought himself if he’d had the money. The yellow paint with green trim was nice, but best of all were the wraparound porches, one on the first floor and one on the second. A couple of redbrick chimneys indicated fireplaces inside and a turret at the top, with windows all around, would make a great playroom for kids.

Or a relaxing spot for parents to kick back and watch the sunset.

He straightened his shoulders and glanced down at his Delgado Landscaping shirt. He’d debated wearing just ordinary casual clothes, but that would have misrepresented the relationship.

He was aiming to rent a place from her and maybe to do some work for her, too. She was a potential client and landlord, not a friend.

He walked briskly up the sidewalk and held out a hand to shake hers. “Hey, Fiona. Thanks for letting us see the carriage house. And for considering me for a landscaping job, too.”

She lifted an eyebrow and shook his hand. “Of course.”

Heat rose in the back of his neck. Why did he feel so awkward with her?

And her hand—which, he noticed, he was still grasping in his, and he let it go like a hot potato—wasn’t the well-manicured, callus-free one he’d expected, but strong, with plain short-cut nails.

Long delicate fingers, too.

“So,” he began.

“Would you like something—” she started at the same time.

They both laughed awkwardly. “Ladies first,” he said and then wondered if that had sounded stupid.

“Um, okay.” Her cheeks went pink. “What was I... Oh, yeah. Would you like something to drink? Coffee, soda, iced tea?”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks. And thanks for letting the kids come along. It’s a big help.”

“Sure. They’re all having fun.” She gestured across the yard.

The kids were running toward a play set situated near a tidy little outbuilding that must be the carriage house. Poppy couldn’t keep up and called out to the others. Sofia turned, went back to the little girl and picked her up.

His heart did a funny little twist at the sight of his daughter holding a toddler. Sofia would love to have a little sister. He and Elizabeth had hoped for that, planned for it.

Plans don’t always work out. “Does somebody live in your carriage house now?” he asked to distract himself.

“No. I was using it for my dog-walking business, but now...” She shrugged, looking away. “I just want to rent it out.”

“You’re not thinking of trying another business?”

“Well...I’d like to. But...no. Not for now.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Clear enough. None of my business. “Why don’t you show me what you’re thinking of doing in the yard first, since that’ll take more time. I can look at the carriage house after.”

“Okay, sure.” She wiped her hands down the sides of her jeans. As she headed to the side yard, he fell into step beside her. It was nice that she was so tall. Easy for them to walk in step.

Unbidden, a memory of Elizabeth, scolding him for his tendency to outpace her, came to mind.

Fiona was talking, and he forced himself to focus. “So over here,” she said, “I’m thinking about digging up this whole section and planting vegetables. Corn and tomatoes and squash and peppers. I’d like to maybe slope it south? To catch the sun?”

“That makes sense.” He looked around the yard, measured it in his mind, pictured some ways it could look. “You thinking about raised beds?”

“Yes, if it’s possible.”

He nodded. “I think we could put in three small terraces. It would look good.” He bent down, pinched up some soil and squeezed it between his thumb and forefinger. Thick and hard; too much clay. “You’re going to need some soil amendments. In future years you can compost, if you’re into that, but you’ll probably have to shell out for commercial stuff this year. Peat moss, humus, maybe some mushroom compost. It’ll cost you.”

“That’s not a problem,” she said, and then a blush rose up her cheeks again and she looked away. “I...inherited some money. Nothing I earned myself.”

He’d known she was wealthy. A lot of his customers were. As a professional, he could look at it as a good thing. “Hey, it’s great you can afford to do that. It’ll get your garden off to a strong start. Mind if I take some measurements?”

“That would be great. And here’s the key to the carriage house. Go ahead and look around when you’re done.”

She checked on the kids while he measured and sketched. By the time they’d gotten around to the other side of the yard and discussed fruit trees and blueberry bushes, they were more at ease with each other. And when the kids came running up, thirsty, he helped her get drinks for everyone and accepted one himself.

While Fiona bandaged Ryan’s scraped knee and helped Poppy change into a clean outfit—some kind of a mud puddle accident—Eduardo went out onto the porch and tried to get started on an estimate.

He found himself thinking about Fiona instead.

Specifically, about her past.

It was common knowledge in town that Fiona had been married to a wealthy man. And that her husband had turned out to have a double life, but Eduardo didn’t know any of the details. Now he found himself curious and sympathetic. How did you explain something like that to your kids? How did you deal with it yourself?

And why on earth would anyone who was married to Fiona have felt the need for someone else?

Eduardo did another walk-around, checked a couple of measurements and looked up costs online. By the time he’d finished, the afternoon sun was sinking toward the horizon.

Dinnertime. He needed to take a look at the carriage house, collect his kids and go back to the motel where they were staying. He’d finalize the estimate tonight and email it all to her, and mull over renting the carriage house if it seemed suitable. It would mean a late night, but the job would be great for his bottom line, and the fact that he could work on it basically from home, if the rental worked out, meant that he could get to it quickly.

Sofia was running across the lawn and he called to her. “Get your brother,” he said. “I’m going to take a quick look at the carriage house and then go inside to talk to Mrs. Farmingham. After that, we’ll head home.”

“But we’re having fun!”

“Sofia...” He lifted an eyebrow. She was just starting to question his authority, and he understood it was a stage. But she needed rules and boundaries, and she needed to obey.