Black Rose (In the Garden 2)

It had been a choice between gathering her courage to start her own business, or swallowing her pride to work for someone else.

For Roz, it was no contest.

She'd piled a great deal of her eggs into that single basket, and the first two years had been touch and go. But it had grown. She and Harper had made it grow.

She'd taken a hit with the divorce. Stupid, stupid mistake. While Bryce had gotten very little out of the deal - and only what she'd permitted him to get - it had cost her dearly in pride and in money to shed herself of him.

But they'd weathered it. Her sons, her home, her business were thriving. So she could think, a little, of changes. Of expansions on both her business and personal fronts. Just as she could enjoy the successful present.

She moved from the African violets to her bromeliads, and by the time she'd finished dividing, she decided Stella was going to get one of these, too. Pleased, she worked another hour, then shifted to check the spring bulbs she was forcing. She'd have narcissus blooming in another week.

When she was satisfied, she carted everything she wanted in the house inside, arranging, as she preferred them, a forest of plants in the solarium, then placing other pots throughout the house.

Last, she carried a trio of bulbs in forcing bottles to the kitchen.

"And what have you brought me?" David asked.

"David, I despair of teaching you anything about horticulture. They're very obviously tulips. " She arranged them on the windowsill beside the banquette. "They'll bloom in a few weeks. "

"I despair of teaching you anything about the choices of stylish gardening wear. How long have you owned that shirt?"

"I have no idea. What are you doing in here?" She pulled open the refrigerator, took out the pitcher of cold tea that was always there. "Shouldn't you be starting your primping marathon for tonight's party?"

"I'm making you up a nice platter of cold cuts and sides, as you refuse to come out and play with us tonight. And as I treated myself to a few hours at the day spa today while you were grubbing in dirt, my primping has already started. "

"You don't have to go to any trouble with platters, David. I can find the makings for a sandwich myself. "

"Nicer this way, especially when you have company. " He chuckled. "The professor's in the library, and I put a couple of bottles of champagne in to chill so the two of you can - let's say - pop a cork. "

"David. " She gave him a light cuff on the side of the head before she poured the tea. "I'm not popping anything with anyone. I'm minding the baby. "

"Babies sleep. Roz, my treasure, he'sgorgeous , in that sexily rumpled academic sort of way. Jump him. But for God's sake, change your clothes first. I set out your white cashmere sweater, and those black pants I talked you into - the ones with lots of lycra, and those fabulous Jimmy Choo's. "

"I'm certainly not wearing white cashmere, skintight pants - which I'd never have bought if you hadn't hypnotized me or something - or a pair of five-inch heels when I'm babysitting for a seven-month-old. It's not even a date. "

"Don't you just love those horn-rims? What is it about a man in horn-rim glasses?"

She took an olive out of the bowl he'd filled. "You're certainly wound up tonight. "

He covered the bowls and the tray he'd prepared with plastic. "There now. You're going to have yourself a nice New Year's Eve picnic with the horn-rimmed hunk. "

"David, why in the world do you think I need a man?"

"My darling Roz, weall need a man. "

SHE DID CHANGE, but brutally rejected David's choices in favor of a simple cotton shirt and jeans, and her favored wool socks in lieu of shoes. Still, she had enough vanity to do her makeup.

In the nursery, she listened patiently to all of Hayley's nervous-mother instructions, assured, and reassured, swore an oath she would call if there was any sort of a problem. And finally nudged the girl out and on her way.

She waited, watching from the window until she saw the car drive away. Then, grinning, she turned to where Lily gurgled in her bouncy chair.

"I've got you all to myself now. Come on up here to Aunt Roz, 'cause I've just got to eat you right up like a bowl of sugar. "

In the library, Mitch pretended to read, took sketchy notes, and listened to the baby monitor that stood on a table on the lower level.

Every room had one, at least every room he'd been in, he thought. Since the experiences last spring, he thought that was a wise and basic precaution.

But he wasn't thinking of safety or precautions now. He was simply charmed and amused, listening first to Hayley's anxiety-filled departure, and now Roz's verbal love affair with the baby.