"He's great with the kids. It's a weight off knowing they're with someone they like after school. And I like Harper, though I don't see much of him. "
"Boy's always been a loner. Happier with his plants. Good looking," he added.
"He is, Dad, but we'll just stick with discussing leaf-bud cuttings and cleft grafting, okay?"
"Can't blame a father for wanting to see his daughter settled. "
"I am settled, for the moment. " More, she realized, than she would have believed possible. "At some point, though, I'm going to want my own place. I'm not ready to look yet - too much to do, and I don't want to rock the boat with Roz. But it's on my list. Something in the same school district when the time comes. I don't want the boys to have to change again. "
"You'll find what you're after. You always do. "
"No point in finding what you're not after. But I've got time. Right now I'm up to my ears in reorganizing. That's probably an exaggeration. I'm up to my ears in organizing. Stock, paperwork, display areas. "
"And having the time of your life. "
She laughed, stretched out her arms and legs. "I really am. Oh, Dad, it's a terrific place, and there's so much untapped potential yet. I'd like to find somebody who has a real head for sales and customer relations, put him or her in charge of that area while I concentrate on rotating stock, keep ahead of the paperwork, and juggle in some of my ideas. I haven't even touched on the landscape area. Except for a head butt with the guy who runs that. "
"Kitridge?" Will smiled. "Met him once or twice, I think. Hear he's a prickly sort. "
"I'll say. "
"Does good work. Roz wouldn't tolerate less, I can promise you. He did a property for a friend of mine about two years ago. Bought this old house, wanted to concentrate on rehabbing it. Grounds were a holy mess. He hired Kitridge for that. Showplace now. Got written up in a magazine. "
"What's his story? Logan's?"
"Local boy. Born and bred. Though it seems to me he moved up north for a while. Got married. "
"I didn't realize he's married. "
"Was," Will corrected. "Didn't take. Don't know the details. Jo might. She's better at ferreting out and remembering that sort of thing. He's been back here six, eight years. Worked for a big firm out of the city until Roz scooped him up. Jo! What do you know about the Kitridge boy who works for Roz?"
"Logan?" Jolene peeked around the corner. She was wearing an apron that said, jo's kitchen. There was a string of pearls around her neck and fuzzy pink slippers on her feet. "He's sexy. "
"I don't think that's what Stella wanted to know. "
"Well, she could see that for herself. Got eyes in her head and blood in her veins, doesn't she? His folks moved out to Montana, of all places, two, three years ago. "
She cocked a hip, tapped a finger on her cheek as she lined up her data. "Got an older sister lives in Charlotte now. He went out with Marge Peters's girl, Terri, a couple times. You remember Terri, don't you, Will?"
"Can't say as I do. "
"'Course you do. She was homecoming and prom queen in her day, then Miss Shelby County. First runner-up for Miss Tennessee. Most agree she missed the crown because her talent wasn't as strong as it could've been. Her voice is a little bit, what you'd call slight, I guess. "
As Jo talked, Stella just sat back and enjoyed. Imagine knowing all this, or caring. She doubted she could remember who the homecoming or prom queens were from her own high school days. And here was Jo, casually pumping out the information on events that were surely a decade old.
Had to be a southern thing.
"And Terri? She said Logan was too serious-minded for her," Jo continued, "but then a turnip would be too serious-minded for that girl. "
She turned back into the kitchen, lifting her voice. "He married a Yankee and moved up to Philadelphia or Boston or some place with her. Moved back a couple years later without her. No kids. "
She came back with a fresh mimosa for Stella and one for herself. "I heard she liked big-city life and he didn't, so they split up. Probably more to it than that. Always is, but Logan's not one to talk, so information is sketchy. He worked for Fosterly Landscaping for a while. You know, Will, they do mostly commercial stuff. Beautifying office buildings and shopping centers and so on. Word is Roz offered him the moon, most of the stars, and a couple of splar systems to bring him into her operation. "
Will winked at his daughter. "Told you she'd have the details. "
"And then some. "
Jo chuckled, waved a hand. "He bought the old Morris place on the river a couple of years ago. Been fixing it up, or having it fixed up. And I heard he was doing a job for Tully Scopes. You don't know Tully, Will, but I'm on the garden committee with his wife, Mary. She'll complain the sky's too blue or the rain's too wet. Never satisfied with anything. You want another Bloody Mary, honey?" she asked Will.