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relationship go down that path.
    Every time we sat out here, Wolf spoke wistfully of an old Blaze climbing rose in his yard that had died. Now that I was a lady of leisure, I thought it would be a nice gesture to surprise him by planting one where his had died. That wasn’t a big project. It would only take a couple of hours and would give me pleasure to boot.

    I woke early, earlier than I wanted, to someone pounding the brass knocker on my front door. I forced one eye open and looked at the clock. Six? I was on vacation. I rolled over, but the pounding continued.
    With great reluctance, I slung on a thin cotton bathrobe and stumbled down the steps. I opened the door to find Leon, Natasha’s assistant, in the street, waving his arms. Ever since he showed up at my Halloween party dressed as Frodo, the hobbit, I had trouble seeing him as anythingelse. Leon loved food almost as much he loved gossip. Unfortunately, he wasn’t particularly good at hiding his emotions. His expressive face told all. Like a kindly hobbit, he would give away his last bit of food to a hungry child or dog.
    Chubby Leon looked over at me and ran back to my stoop, panting heavily. “I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t even know about it until five minutes ago. Change clothes and do your hair. Now!”

CHAPTER FIVE
    Dear Sophie,
    My garage faces the street and is painfully prominent. There’s little room for plants along the driveway. How can I dress it up?
    —Hopeless Garage in Morning Glory, Kentucky
    Dear Hopeless Garage,
    Buy a bench and paint it an eye-catching color. Place it near the garage, and surround it with colorful potted plants like geraniums. If there’s room, stick a trellis in a pot along the front of your garage and plant a mandevilla. People won’t be seeing the garage anymore.
    —Sophie
    The words had barely left his mouth when Leon shrieked. “They’re here! How do I look?”
    The rumbling of a large engine drowned his words. Aneighteen-wheeler truck rolled toward us, overwhelming the narrow old street. It stopped before my house, blocking early traffic. Green and blue covered the side of the truck in an abstract version of grass and sky. Brightly colored flowers and leafy trees formed a frame for the words “
Tear It up with Troy!
”
    Nina ran across the street to me, and Francie joined us from next door. Of course, this was the one time Nina wasn’t wearing one of her elegant silk bathrobes. I didn’t even know she owned green yoga pants, much less ones that were so unbecoming and appeared to have been partly shredded by a cat. Her boxy shirt didn’t do much for her, either. Her hair bushed out to the side in a bad case of bed head. Francie was no better. I hadn’t seen a housedress like Francie’s since I was a child. From the looks of it, she might have worn it when I was a child. She wore kneesocks and shabby bedroom slippers on her feet.
    Troy, whom I recognized from his popular TV show, bounded out of the truck. The person who coined the phrase
tall, dark, and handsome
must have meant this guy. Athletically slender, he wore an intentional scruffy shadow of a beard. He pushed back masses of tousled coal black hair, revealing the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen.
    Spellbound, Nina, Francie, and I stared in silence. He flashed us an easy smile.
    I spluttered, “Tha, tha…”
    Nina gently smacked me without taking her eyes off of him. “She, she, um, she…”
    “Hubba, hubba!” said Francie. “If I were ten years younger…”
    Thankfully, Leon hadn’t lost his ability to speak. He trotted to Troy and squeaked, “You’re him! I mean, he’s you! I mean… Well, I’m just your biggest fan. I can’t believe you’re here!”
    Troy turned his dazzling smile on Leon. “Troy Garner.” He extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    Leon pumped Troy’s hand. “Stay here. Right here. Ihave to get my camera. You’ll take a picture with me, won’t you?”
    “Sure thing. Do you know