Rain was falling in sheets around Julia Reynolds as she made a mad dash from the library to her car.
Clutching an armful of gardening books tightly to her chest, she worked to keep them dry as the relentless spring showers followed her progress. Shivering from the chilly dampness she set the vehicle into drive and headed for the plant nursery on the east side of town.
Despite the gray skies, her mind was filled with colorful schemes of possibility. This would be the year her garden would succeed. The flowers would grow, the yard would be transformed and somehow in the burst of new life, Julia herself would come alive once again with optimistic joy for living. At least that was the hope that drove her to pursue a horticultural adventure far beyond the skill she thus far had exhibited with plants.
Trays of pink and red geraniums, yellow and violet pansies and orange-hued marigolds greeted her upon arrival at the greenhouses where shoppers meandered through the flowers and plants looking for the perfect selections.
Wandering through aisles of soft fragrance and color, Julia felt the renewal of spirit beginning.
Over the last year she had lost so much. Her husband, her mother, her faith – all gone as she faced betrayal, divorce, cancer. But here in this garden of flowering containers she felt the whisper of new life.
“Can I help you? What are you looking for?”
Julia responded automatically. “Commitment, love, a chance to have it all – for real this time.”
Then reality dawned and Julia realized she had been speaking her deepest thoughts to a greenhouse clerk who probably wondered why she had been staring so long at the rose bushes. Looking up in embarrassment, Julia found herself staring into compassionate blue eyes. Eyes set in a friendly face with laugh lines and striking bone structure.
“I’m sorry,” she began. “I was lost in my thoughts.”
“And they were deep thoughts apparently,” responded the clerk whose name tag read ‘Tom’. “I think a lovely lady such as yourself deserves a chance to have it all.”
Julia wasn’t sure how to respond. It had been so long since someone paid her a real compliment. Her spirit felt broken, bruised. But she attempted a smile and found it growing as she looked deeper into Tom’s eyes.
“What is it you are holding there,” Tom asked, gesturing to the wrinkled and damp paper Julia clutched in her hand.
“Oh, it’s my attempt at a garden plan,” she said with a bit of reticence over the thought of showing it to anyone. “I am not very good with plants, but I really want to have a garden. I did some research at the library and sketched this out. I’m going to just go for it.”
Tom reached for her sketch – their fingers brushing against each other as he took the paper in hand.
“Let’s see what we can to do to help you get started,” he said. “I’m glad you have decided to go for it.”
Julia found herself smiling wider at the clerk who appeared to be close to her age. She wished there was a hidden innuendo in his words. If she ever were to go for a new romance, he might be just the type she’d want to have in her life. Somehow even love and dating seemed possible here in this setting with soft green foliage and sweet white daisies waving softly in the wind.
Tom was still talking while Julia’s mind was daydreaming away. She focused on his smiling lips as he said, “You mentioned being ‘not very good with plants’, but I sense you just need a new relationship with them. All creations – both fragile flowers and beautiful women – deserve to be treated with loving care. I can show you how to make that happen.”
Julia’s breath caught as she found herself taking Tom’s arm and heading through the greenhouse on a tour. He loaded her cart with both plants from her chosen list and a few others with which she was not familiar. At several stops along the aisles he spoke of the importance of gentle care and respect for the needs of each flowering plant to be placed in her home.
Julia was mesmerized in his presence, listening to his words and allowing him to fill her cart to brimming with supplies. It was only when they reached the end of the store and a cash register loomed that reality hit.
“Oh my goodness! Look at all we’ve got in here,” Julia gushed. “You’ve been wonderful to help me so much. I only hope I can remember it all when I get home and get started. May I call on you for help if I have questions?”
Holding her breath, awaiting his answer Julia tried to focus all her attention on Tom and ignore the anxiety that was beginning to build in her as she realized she was leaving the beauty of the greenhouse and taking all of these flowers home where she would have to unload them and try to find the perfect patch of dirt in which to transplant them.
“Oh you don’t think I would leave you to face this new beginning alone, do you?” Tom answered. “I was planning to follow you home and help you get started on your perfect garden adventure.”
Julia found his words almost too good to be true. She was both frightened and exhilarated at the prospect of a strange gardener coming to her home.
She answered carefully.
“Well, of course, it would be great if you could give me some tips on transplanting the flowers, but I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble here,” Julia said. “I mean won’t they be upset if you leave the store?”
“It’s okay,” Tom said. “I can leave the store whenever I like. I can leave any of my stores whenever I like. This is my business – Smith’s Greenhouse. I’m Tom Smith, by the way.”
Tom was extending his hand gently. Julia hesitantly placed hers in his and introduced herself. She felt foolish for fearing that she was bringing a strange gardener to her home when in actuality, it was a multi-millionaire businessman who stood before her. Then Julia felt a new rush of anxiety realizing a rich business tycoon was about to enter her humble abode.
Tom seemed to read the conflicting storyline going on in her mind and sought to place her at ease.
“Julia, the staff has loaded all of your plants in my truck and we’re ready to roll. I have your address right here on the billing slip. C’mon this is going to be fun!”
And suddenly as she looked again into those deep blue eyes full of understanding, Julia felt a sense of peace and joy and she knew she was ready for whatever else the day might bring.
“Well, if you’re ready to roll, let’s go,” Julia said with a grin. “I don’t have any more time to waste.”
Tom put the truck into gear and grinned back at her through the window.
“Let’s get to planting then,” he smiled. “I can’t wait to see your new garden grow.”
Together they drove toward Julia’s home as the sun broke through the clouds shining a blessing on their budding friendship.