Blue Dahlia (In the Garden 1)

"On the way to Graceland. "

"You don't waste time. "

"That's when you told me about the dream you'd had. "

Her heart fluttered. "The garden. The blue dahlia. "

"Then later, when you said you'd had another, told me about it, it just got me thinking. So . . . "

He reached into the cab of the truck, took out a small pot with a grafted plant. "I asked Harper if he'd work on this. "

"A dahlia," she whispered. "A blue dahlia. "

"He's pretty sure it'll bloom blue when it matures. Kid's got a knack. "

Tears burned into her eyes and smeared her voice. "I was going to dig it up, Logan. She kept pushing me to, and it seemed she was right. It wasn't what I'd put there, wasn't what I'd planned, no matter how beautiful it was. And when I did, when I dug it up, it died. It was so stupid of me. "

"We'll dig this one in instead. We can plant this, you and me, and the four of us can plant a garden around it. That suit you?"

She lifted her hands, cupped his face. "It suits me. "

'That's good, because Harper worked like a mad scientist on it, shooting for a deep, true blue. I guess we'll wait and see what we get when it blooms. "

"You're right. " She looked up at him. "We'll see what we get. "

"He gave me the go-ahead to name it. So it'll be Stella's Dream. "

Now her heart swirled into her eyes. "I was wrong about you, Logan. You're perfect after all. "

She cradled the pot in her arm as if it were a child, precious and new. Then taking his hand, she linked fingers so they could walk in the moon-drenched garden together.

In the house, in the air perfumed with flowers, another walked. And wept.