Soil

The hand trowel sunk into the soil smoothly, creating a satisfying sort of shushing sound, a soft crunch of soil that was like music to Alexandra's ears. It was one of her favorite parts of gardening, just being out in the sunshine, solitary, with only the sounds of labor and nature to distract her from her own thoughts. Lex, as she was called by her family and friends, had always known her heart was rooted deep in the soil of the earth and that she was happiest on her knees in the dirt. Hell, if it wasn’t frowned upon by her clients and customers, she’d forego her gloves and proudly display a thick, black line of dirt beneath her fingernails that were always too short to be manicured. At first, her loved ones had been concerned when she told them her aspirations of being a professional gardener, wondering what kind of life she signed up for. But she was happy and fulfilled. She was a pretty positive person and didn’t get too bitter too often, not until the sun was hot on her back and the sweat made her tee shirt cling uncomfortably to her slick skin while the owner of the property shamelessly sunned herself by the massive in-ground pool.

Mrs. Madison, her current and most demanding client, was stretched out along the length of a patio chaise lounge chair, a glass filled to the brim with a bright-colored liquid sweating patiently beside her on a small table. Her large, oval sunglasses blocked most of her face, and her white swimsuit accented the best parts of her fit body. Her mocha-colored hair was strewn with champagne-colored highlights and spilled around her like a discarded latte. She was beauty personified, some Wall Street mogul’s idea of the perfect trophy wife come to life, lazily tanning herself with the abandon that only the truly stinking rich can afford.

And Alexandra fucking hated her.

That wasn’t true, exactly; it could be said that Alexandra didn’t have a mean bone in her body. It was that little green monster that whispered poison in the recesses of Alexandra’s brain. Mrs. Madison was beautiful, rich, and had a gorgeous, sweet husband she was able to boss around, probably because she was spectacular in bed, or for some other equally enviable reason. Mrs. Madison was also perfectly capable of digging out her own flower beds every season, but she hired Alexandra to do it simply because she could. Laziness was too harsh a word, but it was the access to such convenience that made Alexandra’s lip curl and pierce the soil with the hand trowel more savagely than she had done before. The women had been in the backyard the same amount of time, but only one had done anything worth noting. Alexandra sat back on her heels and wiped the sweat that was gathering on her upper lip with the exposed part of her wrist just beneath her glove. She breathed deeply, resting for just a few moments before getting back to work and longing to get trapped inside her own head and ignore the opulence and extravagance surrounding her.

“How’s it going out here?” Alexandra turned to the owner of a throaty, husky voice. It was Mr. Madison, the man of the house. He was wearing navy blue Bermuda shorts with a v-neck tee shirt without shoes. She hadn’t heard him coming because the soft soles of his feet padded almost inaudibly against the smooth stones of the impressive patio. Mr. Madison seated himself on the topmost step of the three, wide, long stone steps that led down to the garden and the pool. He was smiling, squinting against the sun. His hair was neatly, expertly coiffed and he wore a pair of brow-lined glasses. “Here,” he said, offering Alexandra a water bottle.

She reached out and took the water bottle. “Thanks,” she smiled. She untwisted the cap and drank greedily. When she reluctantly pulled the bottle from her lips, Alexandra looked back at Mr. Madison. He was still smiling, patiently watching her.

“It’s hot out here, huh?” he asked conversationally.

“Yeah,” Alexandra responded lamely. She smiled back eagerly as she was not immune to his good looks or his charm. His jaw was sharp and strong, his nose was wide but fit perfectly into his face, and his eyes were dark and deep, outlined by dark, strong brows. It set up a wonderful contradiction of mystery and honesty. She felt like she could trust him, but she also felt like she would worry about it and wonder about it afterwards. Lost in her thoughts, she realized she was staring a second too late. Mr. Madison stretched his smile wider, and her face flushed crimson and she shot her eyes down to the soil, to the dirt, to the place she felt most comfortable.

“So, what is it exactly that you’re doing?”

Alexandra sat up straighter, comfortable with her knowledge in this new line of questioning. “Well, the particulars of it depend on the location, size, and whether or not containers are being –“

“Zack! Zack!” Mrs. Madison yelled. Her adenoidal voice shredded the warm, sensual tones that had been passing between Alexandra and Mr. Madison. “Zack, can you bring out the cantaloupe that Valentina cut this morning? It’s in the fridge.”

Mr. Madison dropped his eyes to his hands which he had clasped between his knees. Alexandra watched his knuckles whiten and looked at his face to see his jaw flex. “Sure, honey,” he called back. He looked to Alexandra and remembered his smile, his easygoing and carefree attitude. “Excuse me,” he said as he rose to a standing position. “I’m sorry,” he quickly added, almost as an afterthought. Alexandra watched him walk away from her and into the house with a very strong sense of disappointment gnawing at her brain, right next to where the green monster was whispering its poison. She sighed and went back to work.

It was Monday the next time Alexandra was at the Madison household. Only Mr. Madison’s Toyota was parked at the head of the long, meandering driveway. That was normal. He worked from home unless a very special occasion forced him into the office. Alexandra could see him through the large sliding glass doors hunched over a laptop, trying in vain to cradle a cell phone between his jaw and shoulder. Alexandra didn’t know how he did it, how he could stand it, being trapped inside all day and figuring numbers while yelling at single-minded men who yelled right back. It seemed a sad, shallow way to exist.

Alexandra was lugging the last bag of soil from the back of her battered Ford Bronco. She had dragged the bag all the way from the road where she had to park, so when she finally got to the backyard, she was tired. She struggled to open the garden gate, banging her hip against it futilely until it suddenly, effortlessly, swung wide open. “Can I help you with that?”

Mr. Madison’s husky tenor had been unexpected and Alexandra had to swallow back a scream. “Mr. Madison, you scared me,” she said, laughing it off. “This is the last of it, but thanks very much. Opening the gate was great.” She shifted the heavy bag in her arms so she could send Mr. Madison a bright smile. With the gate open, she moved past him easily enough and tossed the bag of soil onto the ground beside the flower bed with a small, grateful groan. She turned to continue her conversation with Mr. Madison but he was already trudging slowly inside. To call him back would be awkward and inappropriate.

Maybe Mr. Madison liked being a kept man. But honestly, Alexandra didn’t believe that. Ever since he’d been ordered to get the fruit from the fridge that someone else had cut for his wife, and had done so immediately, he hadn’t been able to meet Alexandra’s gaze for longer than a few seconds.

Alexandra wanted to get her mind on her work, which was digging holes for the plants. Mrs. Madison wanted to add some purple to the garden, some lavender and violets, so Alexandra had been about that specific job for the last couple of days. She dropped to her knees and pulled the bag of soil nearer, tearing it open. “Hey, I brought you some water,” Mr. Madison said, announcing his arrival and doing his best not to scare Alexandra again.

“Thanks a lot, Mr. Madison,” Alexandra said.

“Please, call me Zack,” he smiled. He pulled his glasses from his face, folded them with a graceful, single flick of his wrist and stored them in the pocket of his shirt. Alexandra was glad she was already kneeling as that smile surely would have dropped her anyway.

She blushed. “Well, thank you, Zack.”

He laughed softly, doing little more than pushing air gently through his nose. “No problem, Alexandra.” He wet his lips before he spoke again. “I have a conference call but if you need me for anything, I’ll be right inside.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks,” Alexandra said with a subtle cringe. It was as if all she ever said to the man was “thank you.” She called out after him, “It’s Lex, by the way.”

He turned to her, the smile now bemused.

“You can call me Lex, I meant.”

“Alright Lex,” he said with the tiniest of winks. And then he disappeared inside.

Some hours later, Alexandra was meticulously measuring out the spaces to separate the violets when she heard the glass door slide open. Turning, she saw Zack walking towards her. “Doing alright out here?”

Alexandra smiled brightly. She was always proud of her work. “It’s coming along nicely,” she said, climbing to her feet. She reached towards the sky to stretch out her back.

“It looks beautiful, absolutely beautiful.”

Alexandra smiled and set back to work, not wanting to be idle in front of her remarkably handsome boss. She dropped back to her knees, which made an audible pop. She grimaced, half in pain and half embarrassed.

“You need one of those gardening pads,” Zack said. He had resumed his seat from the other day atop the patio steps.

“The day I get one of those gardening pads is the day I give up, man,” she laughed. “Just get fat and let my hair go gray and pack it in.”

Zack laughed. “That’s dramatic.”

“I am very dramatic. I have to keep myself entertained, spending all day alone in the dirt,” Lex said with a snort. She realized the sentence fell from her mouth heavier than she had intended. There was a moment of silence that was just as heavy.

Then Zack said, “I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat. In a second, I would be right where you are.”

Alexandra stopped what she was doing, sitting back on her heels. She looked at Zack with a penetrating gaze. “My house does not look like this, just so you know.”

“So what?” Zack asked, launching himself into a standing position and climbing down the remaining two steps. “A beautiful prison is still a prison.”

Lex snorted again. “Now who’s being dramatic.” But there was no amusement shining through Zack’s deep, dark eyes. He was all sincerity.

“There are some days I don’t get any fresh air in my lungs. There are some days all I see is artificial light. And what do I do all day? Honestly, what do I do? What do I have to show for my hours inside?” He squatted down beside her. “I can do this. I am perfectly capable of doing this. What kind of man am I to sit back while you bust your ass out here?” Zack dropped to his knees. “So how do I get started?”

“What?” Lex laughed in disbelief.

“Let me help you,” Zack said. “Tell me what to do.”

Lex sized Zack up beside her, looking him up and down. His face remained a study in sincerity. He seemed eager to be involved, so she began slowly, her skepticism too strong to be kept out of her voice. “Well, I have to space the violets out evenly so they can grow properly. They do best with some shade, so that’s why I have to dig up the false goat’s beard we had in that back corner. There’s still some left, so if you want to dig those up, I’ll just keep measuring.” It came out more as a question than a directive, but Zack got right to work. Alexandra did her best not to gawk at the shifting muscles of his back, at the sweat glistening on his strong arms, at the merriment obviously evident is his smile and eyes when he turned to look at Alexandra.

And he seemed to look at Alexandra a lot. Several times, enough for her to take notice, Alexandra felt eyes upon her. She would turn and catch Zack watching her, the way she moved sinuously among the plants, the way her tee shirt clung to the small of her back and raised up just enough to show the slope of the beginning of what was hidden in her jeans. And when she caught him staring, he would gaze a moment or two more before raising his eyes to hers, and she would look away like she had been the one who had done something wrong.

Not that she was complaining; it was the best afternoon of work she had ever experienced. And with Zack’s help, they finished the back corner of the garden by quitting time. Sweaty but satisfied, she offered Zack a high five and he returned it with a boyish excitement that was impossible to ignore. Her smile stretched and widened and turned into one of those rare and beloved laughs that started in the depths of the soul and erupted forth unashamed, standing brilliantly naked in the light.

Zack even helped her carry her tools to the truck. “That was a great day,” he said, tossing the last of the spades and shovels into the truck bed. “Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you. That job got done so much faster with your help.” She shut the tailgate on the back of the truck and turned to him with a sly smile. “I think your thumb just might be green. You need a second job?”

Softly, Zack laughed. “Don’t tempt me.”

Alexandra wiped her hands on the seat of her pants. “Well, I’ll be back on Wednesday to switch out the areca palm bushes for some lavender and maybe I’ll add in some baby’s breath.” She extended her hand to Zack, offering a comradely handshake of a job well done.

Zack took Alexandra’s hand in hers, but did so slowly and deliberately and delicately. He made sure that each finger slipped against and caressed each one of Alexandra’s fingers. Her breath came up short when his fingertips slid along the smooth, sensitive skin of her wrist. He didn’t only shake her hand but used his firm, masculine strength to pull her half a step closer. “Have a good night, Lex,” he whispered in that alluring husky tenor. Their hands moved up and down in the same deliberate manner in which they had grasped one another. Alexandra, instead of saying anything, swallowed hard. She found herself taking just another half-step forward and was relieved to find Zack had not stepped back, had not released her hand. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but a slamming car door ruined the magic of the moment and turned all the delicious warmth rising between them to a cold and bitter fleeting breeze.

“Done for the day already?” Mrs. Madison called. She was standing on one leg beside her idling car, the other leg bent at the knee and resting on the driver’s seat. She was wearing the same sunglasses she had been wearing the last time Alexandra had seen her.

“It’s after five o’clock,” Alexandra said, wrenching her hand free of Zack’s and moving backward. “I should have been gone around four.”

That stopped Mrs. Madison dead in her tracks. “Are you saying I’m being billed for an extra hour? Because that is not what we agreed to.”

“No, no, not at all Mrs. Madison.” Alexandra tried to smile. “I’ll see you Wednesday. All your flowers will be in by then, and you can look it over and see if it’s what you had in mind.”

“By Wednesday? That seems fast.”

“Well,” Alexandra looked to Zack with a tender smile, “Mr. Madison helped me out a lot today. He was invaluable.”

Zack looked to Alexandra with a heartbreaking mixture of surprise and tenderness and gratitude glistening in his eyes. It was like he’d never been complimented before.

Mrs. Madison laughed dismissively. “Right,” she said, stretching out the vowel so it was sharply sarcastic. “I’ll believe that when I see it,” and with that, she got back into her car and revved the engine, impatient to park and, or so it seemed, for Alexandra to be gone.

Alexandra looked to Zack, but his head was dropped down, eyes on the pavement. He looked so defeated and deflated, but Alexandra wasn’t witty or clever or good with a turn of phrase, so she stayed silent. She clamored into her truck and drove off.

The forecast for Wednesday called for scattered showers, but not until late in the afternoon, so Alexandra figured she had plenty of time to finish the back corner of the Madison garden. The sky was gray as she drove over, but it was just cloudy. The weather had been the same about two years ago when she had interviewed with the Madisons. She’d been offered coffee by Mr. Madison who had somehow known she took her coffee light and sweet. Their conversation had moved past gardening to the trials and triumphs of growing up on the Jersey Shore, to movies and books and culture. It had been enthralling and entertaining, the best job interview she had ever been on.

But it ended abruptly when Mrs. Madison arrived. Mrs. Madison had coldly discussed pay, explained Alexandra was denied entry to the home once employed, and essentially ordered Zack to “get rid of her.” Zack had walked Alexandra to her truck and had been remarkably pleasant ever since.

Alexandra had a big fat crush on him.

There; she admitted it. And maybe, just maybe, the real reason she was risking working beneath ominous-looking clouds pregnant with rain was just so she could see Zack.

She had just finished bringing the last of her gardening tools into the backyard when Zack’s voice sounded to her from the kitchen window. “Aren’t you worried about the rain?” he asked with that signature, winning smile.

“I think I can get at least a couple hours in,” she answered. He disappeared from view, so she set about her business. Just about twenty minutes later, Alexandra felt eyes upon her. She hadn’t heard the door slide open, so she did her best to discreetly peek over her shoulder. She caught the quickest glimpse of Zack in the kitchen window. She thought about it, chewing on her bottom lip, and then she decided to let herself go. She pulled the hair tie free from her messy bun, allowing her thick and wavy hair to cascade down to the start of her lower back. She shook it free, running her fingers through it. Her joints seemed to suddenly stiffen so she stretched heavenward, raising up to the tips of her toes, showing the length of her body. Alexandra felt better, but thought it’d be beneficial to stretch just a bit more. She bent forward, able to hold her ankles and bring attention to her supple posterior just long enough for anyone watching to enjoy the show. She stood to release the tension, but then slinked down gracefully to her knees and meticulously crawled to where she needed to work, sliding her hindquarters with the sensual shifting of a feline. Before getting back to work, she chanced a glance at Zack, still framed by the kitchen window. He had indeed been watching with a serious, set face and intense glare. Alexandra smiled to herself.

When the rain came, it came earlier than expected and poured down furiously. “Oh shit, shit, shit!” Alexandra groaned. She jumped up and tried to grab all of her tools. They wouldn’t fit in her arms despite her persistence. They kept clattering to the sodden ground and she stubbornly kept retrieving them, sure that if she just rearranged them the right way, she could carry them to her truck in one trip. Alexandra bent down for what seemed like the thousandth time when a warm hand on the small of her back caused her to straighten up and spin around.

Zack was smiling at her, rain water flattening his hair, splattering against his glasses, and running down his face in tiny rivers. It made his shirt cling to his firm, solid, muscular body. “Leave these! I’ll get them! Just take what you can and get inside!” Alexandra had to wrench her eyes away from Zack’s midsection to make eye contact. She nodded and hurried across the yard, up the patio steps, and inside the sliding glass door.

She nearly bumped into a massive dining room table made from reclaimed barn wood. It was stylish, trendy, impressive … and Alexandra wanted to burn it down. After all, she wasn’t the one sitting opposite Zack Madison with love in her eyes.

“Man, it’s coming down,” Zack said as he entered, using his free hand to slide the door shut behind him. “We can store this in the garage. Just follow me.” Zack began walking towards a door at the far end of the kitchen that was adjacent to the dining room. Alexandra took a step and then stopped dead in her tracks.

“Oh no, Zack! I’m going to track mud all through your kitchen.”

He laughed. “Who gives a shit? I’ll mop it up.” He winked at her and disappeared through the door he opened and into the garage. Alexandra hurried to follow dutifully behind.

The garage was filled with harsh fluorescent lights that buzzed incessantly. Alexandra toddled down a pair of wooden steps onto a smooth, clean concrete floor. Zack was neatly stacking Alexandra’s tools in the near corner. He took the tools haphazardly stacked in Alexandra’s arms. She said, “The storm wasn’t supposed to roll in for another couple of hours.”

Zack turned to her, resting his hands on his hips. “You should know better than to listen to meteorologists.”

Alexandra grinned. “You’re right. I—”

The loudest crack of thunder Alexandra had ever heard in her entire life shook the entirety of the Madison home. The abruptness of it startled Alexandra enough to scream and, before she knew what she was doing, she rushed into Zack’s arms, clinging to his firm frame for safety. The overhead lights flickered.

But then everything settled and Alexandra was embarrassed. She stepped back and found her backward progress restricted by Zack’s strong hands and more than capable arms. Her hands lingered on his chest as her eyes moved to search his face. “That was scary,” Zack grinned.

“Sorry,” Alexandra mumbled, forcing herself to step back. She knew she was in dangerous territory and forced herself back far enough so she was just beyond Zack’s fingertips.

“Lex,” Zack breathed. He took a step closer, trying to close the distance.

“Zack, what the fuck?” Mrs. Madison’s nasally scream sounded from beyond the doorway of the garage. Zack initiated a backward scramble of his own, just as Mrs. Madison’s gorgeous head appeared in the doorway. “There’s mud all over the goddam floor!”

Zack turned to face his wife. “I know, I—”

“What is she doing in here?”

“It started raining, so—”

“You know, I don’t care. I’m going upstairs. Just clean up.” She eyed Alexandra coolly. “And you’re dismissed for the day.”

Alexandra nodded and Mrs. Madison disappeared.

Zack had yet to move.

Alexandra cleared her throat. “I’ll just go out through the garage, if that’s okay.”

“I’m a man,” Zack said. “I’m a human being.”

Alexandra frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Zack, you don’t have to—”

“She shouldn’t talk to either of us like that,” Zack continued, turning back around to face Alexandra.

“You’re right, but it’s fine, Zack.” She sighed. “Just let me go home.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Zack said in a flat and unfamiliar tone. His eyes dropped to his feet and he slapped the button on the wall beside him to raise the garage door. It was still pouring.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s a mess out there.”

Zack laughed without humor. “Like it’s not in here?” He rummaged through a myriad of stuff piled beside the door going from the garage into the kitchen. He emerged with a trendy, transparent umbrella and opened it up before moving to stand beside Alexandra.

She smiled softly at him. “That’s bad luck.”

Zack smiled weakly. They stood together in silence a moment more before Alexandra decided to move and Zack followed beside her. It was a long walk to her truck. Mrs. Madison didn’t want the eyesore of a battered Ford Bronco in her driveway, so the pair had to traverse the long and meandering driveway to the quiet residential street. Alexandra knew it’d be a long return trip alone for Zack, and so she wanted to say something to lift his spirits, to convince him this all really didn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things since it would soon be forgotten.

But she had nothing; absolutely nothing came to mind. When Zack escorted her to the driver’s side door, she turned to thank him, but was shocked into silence as Zack raised a trembling hand to cup her cheek in his smooth palm. Neither dared to breathe and disrupt the moment. Alexandra felt the lower part of her body flood with warmth and she shifted where she stood. “I’ll make this up to you,” Zack said. The only sound was the rain slapping against the plastic umbrella, splashing against the pavement, and pounding against the Bronco’s hood with a dull metallic thud. Zack’s hand dropped to his side and he stepped back, so Alexandra climbed into her car and Zack helped shut the door. She was hoping he’d turn and walk back up the driveway so she could have a second to herself, to think, but he stayed where he was, determined to see the job through to its end. Alexandra started the engine, gave a small wave, and drove away.

Zack watched in the rain until the truck was no longer visible.

The next four times Alexandra came to the Madison household, neither Madison was present. There were no signs of Mr. or Mrs. That was weird and as she dug and watered and planted and planned, Alexandra would frown in confusion as her mind traveled away from whatever task was at hand and to Zack as he had looked the last time she saw him.

Alexandra’s next day off was a glimpse into paradise. The sun was bright and high in the sky, but the breeze that sailed through at the perfect moment kept it from being too warm. Alexandra was at The Cove, a local dive bar that had a prime location on the shore of the bay. The wealthier patrons who were always tourists looking for local flavor off the beaten track could tie their boats to the dock and meander into a dark and cool restaurant and bar. Or they could do like Alexandra and sit outside. She was reclined in a plastic Adirondack chair painted a loud, tropical shade of pink with her flip flops discarded and a cold bottle of beer in her hand. She dug her toes into the sand and settled further into the chair with a contented sigh. Her friends would be meeting her in about an hour, but she had arrived early to do exactly what she was doing; enjoying the sun and sand and the ability to do absolutely nothing.

Then a dark shadow passed over her and came to rest. It blocked the warm sun from her face and she had to lazily pop open one eye to identify the disturbance in her sanctuary. Zack stood there, smiling. “Hi, Lex.”

Alexandra tried to scramble into a more professional-looking position, but it was useless. The Adirondack chair was designed for lounging, and she simply slid back against it. “Mr. Madison, what are you doing here?” she asked by way of a greeting.

“I was just having a meeting with some colleagues. We just closed an impressive deal.” He slid his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I came out to admire the view,” Zack said. His dark eyes slid slowly and deliberately along the length of Alexandra’s body. The undisguised hunger made Alexandra gulp and remember to breathe.

“It’s beautiful out here,” she said, still trying to lubricate her throat so her words were louder. “This is my favorite spot.”

“I know,” Zack grinned. “I won’t take up any more of your time. Just thought I’d stop by and say hello.”

Alexandra did her best to perch herself on the edge of the Adirondack chair. “Zack, wait. Is everything okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“The last couple of times I came by to work, no one was home.”

“I couldn’t avoid going into the office, unfortunately. And Mrs. Madison is … on an extended vacation.” The easy grin remained. “But I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

Alexandra nodded, inexplicably breathless. “Right. See you then.”

Zack offered a small, silent wave. He turned and walked across the sand to the parking lot, gracefully hopping the low rope fence that was more for aesthetic quality than for actual security. Alexandra watched him and when he was out of sight, she turned her gaze to the calm water of the bay.

Something was weird.

The next day, Zack was waiting for her at the end of the driveway. She slowed and lowered her window. He was smiling brightly and leaned into her car with all the ease and confidence of a teenager. “You can pull up to the garage. It doesn’t make any sense for you to park down here and lug everything you need up this monster of a driveway.”

“But Mrs. Madison asked—”

“She’s not home. What she doesn't know won’t hurt her,” Zack said with a wink. He turned and began walking up the driveway. Alexandra hesitated for just a moment before following him in her truck. She didn’t know what to make of the changes in Zack’s demeanor, the surprise visit yesterday, or the continued absence of Mrs. Madison. She wasn’t sure if she should make anything of it at all. Maybe Alexandra was just overthinking everything, which she was apt to do. She parked, making up her mind to in fact not make up her mind about anything at all, and walked in the backyard. Beside the garden were boxes and boxes of bulbs. Zack was waiting for her there, smiling and breathless. “I figured we’d swap out the violets and lavender and all the purple bullshit for some lilies. What do you think?”

Alexandra tucked her hair behind her ears. “Well, I mean it’s up to you, but I just spent all that time putting in the—”

“I know, I know,” Zack interrupted. His smile was easy and he moved close to Alexandra, and it seemed intentional, like he knew the physical proximity would keep her from being able to concentrate and to come to conclusions about all of this. “But lavender is all about relaxation, right? I’m over being complacent.” He grabbed Alexandra gently by her shoulders. “I want something that screams adventure.”

“Lilies are used for funerals, mainly,” Alexandra said, frowning.

Zack laughed. “Then I guess I just like the way they look.”

Alexandra nodded. “Alright. I’ll dig up these violets and the lilacs. Lilies need—”

“Mulch and soil that drains well, so we might have to change their position in the garden,” Zack finished for her. “I’ve been doing research all morning.”

She smiled in spite of the impending sense of doom that was rising in her throat. “I’ll get to work straight away.”

“I’ll come back out with some water after I wrap up a conference call,” Zack said before he bounded back inside the house. Alexandra got to her knees and got to work. But upon closer inspection of the plants and the soil that made up the Madison garden, Alexandra realized the ground had been pretty recently disturbed. Removing the purple flowers would be easy as they were half out of the dirt, hastily replanted by an inexperienced hand. She began to pull the plants from the soil, figuring she’d gather pots and soil from the truck once the plants were all removed and ready to be potted. As Alexandra was finishing off the first row, the sun caught on something bright down in the dirt. It winked violently and blinded her for a moment. She shielded her eyes and dug her gloved hands into the soil, looking for whatever it was that blinded her. She found it.

It was a gold ring. Simple, but gold. Like a wedding band.

Her breath caught in her throat. She looked immediately to the kitchen window, looking for Zack to see if he was watching her.

Zack wasn’t at the kitchen window.

He was at the sliding back doors and he was watching her, and he was doing so intently. He wasn’t smiling anymore.

Alexandra took her hand trowel and dug down into the soil, directly beneath where she had found the ring. Eventually, the hand trowel struck something hard and plastic. Alexandra imagined it was a bin, probably big enough for storing junk, things no longer needed or wanted. She probably had a million bins like it in her basement at home. But not buried underneath her flower garden in the backyard.

She looked back to Zack who had opened the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the patio.

Alexandra took a deep breath. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

She placed the ring in the dirt, covered it, and went back to pulling up the flowers.