Community Gardens (Community Garden Series Book 1) by Karin Boutall Page A
Authors: Karin Boutall
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pockets.
While
watering, she heard a car pull up to the library. She turned and saw
a familiar white vehicle with a red light on top. It was the Sand
Hill Cove sheriff, Ed, coming to visit. Ed slowly parked the car. The
woman pulled off her gloves, plucked a cigarette from her apron, lit
it and drew a long inhale.
Ed
tipped his hat while walking toward her. “Morning.”
“What's
got you up so early this morning Ed?” She drew another plume of
cigarette smoke through her teeth.
“Same
to you.” Ed stared directly into her eyes. He removed his hat
and held it across his chest. “Your husband's not home?”
She
shucked her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “So what's new. Have
something to say sheriff?”
“This
time I do. You see...”
“You
won't surprise me.”
“We
found your husband's boat drifting in the marsh. It was empty.”
The
woman tossed her cigarette on the ground. Then rubbed it out with her
shoe.
Chapter 1
Sand
Hill Cove, Mississippi
Spring
2011
Joan Louen pulled a
wagon full of flower pots across her renovated living room and parked
it next to a bulb display. She stepped back to check the display. Pots of thyme and jasmine should surround the wagon, she
thought. While she searched the room for the pots, she also checked
for further flaws. Lights on? Windows clean? Bamboo fans on?
Everything was in place. Finally, The Community Gardens, the garden
shop she'd built from a decrepit two-story house, had come to
fruition. Now, after months of restoring and landscaping, it was time
for the grand opening ceremony.
She
found the needed pots setting in front of Buzz Egan's honey display.
The pots were so tightly clustered around the display it was
difficult to see the honey jars, sweet sticks and beeswax soaps
setting behind them. She had promised Buzz that his display would be
the first one customers saw when they came through the entrance. He
had earned the front entrance spot because he had broadcast her grand
opening for weeks over the internet radio. When she shoved the pots
aside, the honey jars stood out like pots of gold setting next to
rainbow-colored sweet sticks. She left a few blooming pots of clover
around the display and took the others back to the wagon.
Gazing
around the room, she made a mental note to thank Roz for convincing
her to create a consignment shop so the inventory, with the exception
of her nursery-grown plants, would come from local store owners,
artists and Farmer's Market vendors. The arrangement eliminated much
of the burden inventory management posed for small retail stores like
hers. It also gave her more time to find new customers and work in
her beloved nursery.
The
suggestion had proved brilliant. The shop was now loaded with
merchandise. Handmade garden stones and flags from Ivy's Garden Club
spruced up a sparse corner near the back of the store. Lavender
sachets and mint soaps, courtesy the Herb Shop, decorated the
shelves. Wine bottles from Sippy's lay in racks next to baskets of
tightly wrapped goat cheeses. Near the register, an enclosed case of
small cakes from The French Bakery, sat next to a gleaming silver
coffee pot. The specialty brewed coffee inside came from Holden's
Books.
Another
check of the room for misplaced items set her at ease. The Community
Gardens would finally open. She had dreamed of owning a garden center
since earning her biology degree. Buying this old house, after moving
back to Sand Hill Cove, had been the perfect choice to build that
dream. She had turned the greenhouse behind the store into a nursery.
She refurbished the gardens by connecting the old azalea, herb, and
flower beds with walking paths and added a few gardens of her own.
And with the Farmer's Market just across the street, a steady stream
of customers was practically guaranteed. Not only had moving to Sand
Hill Cove proved a smart choice, it was also the town where she had
married Chris and where Zack was born.
Remembering
her husband felt like a black cloud
While
watering, she heard a car pull up to the library. She turned and saw
a familiar white vehicle with a red light on top. It was the Sand
Hill Cove sheriff, Ed, coming to visit. Ed slowly parked the car. The
woman pulled off her gloves, plucked a cigarette from her apron, lit
it and drew a long inhale.
Ed
tipped his hat while walking toward her. “Morning.”
“What's
got you up so early this morning Ed?” She drew another plume of
cigarette smoke through her teeth.
“Same
to you.” Ed stared directly into her eyes. He removed his hat
and held it across his chest. “Your husband's not home?”
She
shucked her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “So what's new. Have
something to say sheriff?”
“This
time I do. You see...”
“You
won't surprise me.”
“We
found your husband's boat drifting in the marsh. It was empty.”
The
woman tossed her cigarette on the ground. Then rubbed it out with her
shoe.
Chapter 1
Sand
Hill Cove, Mississippi
Spring
2011
Joan Louen pulled a
wagon full of flower pots across her renovated living room and parked
it next to a bulb display. She stepped back to check the display. Pots of thyme and jasmine should surround the wagon, she
thought. While she searched the room for the pots, she also checked
for further flaws. Lights on? Windows clean? Bamboo fans on?
Everything was in place. Finally, The Community Gardens, the garden
shop she'd built from a decrepit two-story house, had come to
fruition. Now, after months of restoring and landscaping, it was time
for the grand opening ceremony.
She
found the needed pots setting in front of Buzz Egan's honey display.
The pots were so tightly clustered around the display it was
difficult to see the honey jars, sweet sticks and beeswax soaps
setting behind them. She had promised Buzz that his display would be
the first one customers saw when they came through the entrance. He
had earned the front entrance spot because he had broadcast her grand
opening for weeks over the internet radio. When she shoved the pots
aside, the honey jars stood out like pots of gold setting next to
rainbow-colored sweet sticks. She left a few blooming pots of clover
around the display and took the others back to the wagon.
Gazing
around the room, she made a mental note to thank Roz for convincing
her to create a consignment shop so the inventory, with the exception
of her nursery-grown plants, would come from local store owners,
artists and Farmer's Market vendors. The arrangement eliminated much
of the burden inventory management posed for small retail stores like
hers. It also gave her more time to find new customers and work in
her beloved nursery.
The
suggestion had proved brilliant. The shop was now loaded with
merchandise. Handmade garden stones and flags from Ivy's Garden Club
spruced up a sparse corner near the back of the store. Lavender
sachets and mint soaps, courtesy the Herb Shop, decorated the
shelves. Wine bottles from Sippy's lay in racks next to baskets of
tightly wrapped goat cheeses. Near the register, an enclosed case of
small cakes from The French Bakery, sat next to a gleaming silver
coffee pot. The specialty brewed coffee inside came from Holden's
Books.
Another
check of the room for misplaced items set her at ease. The Community
Gardens would finally open. She had dreamed of owning a garden center
since earning her biology degree. Buying this old house, after moving
back to Sand Hill Cove, had been the perfect choice to build that
dream. She had turned the greenhouse behind the store into a nursery.
She refurbished the gardens by connecting the old azalea, herb, and
flower beds with walking paths and added a few gardens of her own.
And with the Farmer's Market just across the street, a steady stream
of customers was practically guaranteed. Not only had moving to Sand
Hill Cove proved a smart choice, it was also the town where she had
married Chris and where Zack was born.
Remembering
her husband felt like a black cloud
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