Read The Red Book of Primrose House: A Potting Shed Mystery (Potting Shed Mystery series 2) for Free Online Page A

a gardener, too?” Pru asked.
    “Ned’s told me all about you,” he said, smiling. “Sounds like you’ve got things well in hand round here. Can’t be easy, restoring a historic garden.” He looked out at the wood below the sloped lawn. “You’ll be carrying out the tree work?” he asked.
    “
I
won’t be doing any of it,” Pru said with a small laugh. “I don’t do well with heights. I’ve already told Davina we’ll need to hire an arborist.”
    His mention of Ned eased Pru’s mind. She knew few people in the area yet and thought it was high time to become acquainted. But even more than that—Jamie could be her first connection into the garden world in Kent and Sussex. “Bryan and Davina are due back this evening. Would you like me to give them a message?”
    “No, no”—he shook his head slightly, still smiling—“there’s no need. I can give them a ring when they return. I only wanted to see how it was all going.” He gave a small shrug and stuck his hands in his jacket. “I…well, I applied for the post here, too.”
    “Oh.” Pru, acutely aware of how it felt not to get a job, tried to think of something to say that didn’t sound trite. “Well, I’m…sorry that you…”
    But he laughed in an easy way and said, “Don’t worry about it. You’re the one with the better qualifications, and so you were chosen. I’ve no hard feelings. I work for the Council, doing the landscaping around town.” He glanced up at the walls of the house. “So, will you replant in front—a few roses, perhaps?” He smiled at her again.
    “Yes,” she said, and walked around to the corner of the house, so they could look at the bare expanse of bricks. “I haven’t chosen anything yet. We’ve been starting on the walled garden first.”
    “There’s a job for you now. I hope you’ve got enough help.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m not looking for work—I don’t want you to think that. I’ve enough to do, and my wife would have my head if I added another job on top of everything else.”
    “You’re married,” Pru said. “Do you live nearby?”
    “Near enough,” he said, running his hand through his blond hair—long on top and short underneath, it fell back immediately into his face.
    “What does your wife do?” Pru asked.
    “Do?”
    “I mean does she work outside the home?”
    “Now, why would she want to do something like that?” he asked with a surprised look. Before Pru could think of a reply, Jamie said, “Right, well, I’ll be off. Good luck with Primrose House.” He walked back to his car, hesitated, and said, “Say, I’ve a friend who grows roses. He’s just over near Staplehurst. He’s got a few large Maigold he’d let you have—I’d say they’re already about eight feet, pot-grown, so they’ve got good roots. I know you can get a rate at the big nurseries, but I don’t think you’ll find anything this size. As long as you don’t mind digging big holes.”
    “Oh, we can dig holes,” she said. The climbing rose Maigold, an early bloomer, would be a good way to begin planting at the front of the house. Its golden blooms would be set off well by the red brick. And at that size, how could she resist? “Thanks, that would be great. Should I ring him?”
    “I tell you what,” he said, “why don’t I collect them for you and drop them off?”
    “No, I don’t want to put you out,” Pru said.
    “It’s no trouble. We’ve no work before next week. I won’t bother you—I’ll just leave them here at the front. You can settle up with Michael directly, there’s no worry about that. You’ll give Davina and Bryan my best?”
    Pru thanked him again and watched him drive away. Creeping under her sense of gratitude came a tinge of guilt. He seemed a nice enough fellow, eager to help her feel comfortable in her new situation. But she wondered if he had counted on this job. He had a wife, perhaps young children—did the head gardener post at Primrose House pay