Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Still at little winded by this billionaire bombshell, Josie nodded and tried to gather herself together. “There is a great deal of satisfaction in building something from our dreams and turning them into reality. But at the same time, it’s also nice to let people lend a hand, especially if they’re well meaning. Malcolm has mentioned your love of gardening to me several times already, and I get the feeling he’d love to be a silent investor if you would consider it.”
Alice grew quiet for a moment, the longest period of silence since Josie had met her.
“I suppose you’re right. I could still have the pleasure of creating something magical while sharing that pleasure with somebody I really care about and who cares about me,” she said. “I’ll think about it.”
By this time, they’d reached the cottages. Josie focused on their future beauty while Alice only had eyes for the grounds. “These gardens. I still can’t believe I get to bring them back to life. I’ll take some measurements and more notes before I dash off in half an hour to get to work.”
“Do whatever you need to,” Josie said. “And anything you need, let me know, and I’ll try to make it happen.”
As Alice walked away, her spiral notebook already filling up with her notes, Josie joined Malcolm and Fiona. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you,” Josie said to Fiona.
“Don’t worry about it at all. I’m sure Alice was talking your ear off about the gardens.”
“Her ideas are brilliant,” Josie confirmed. “I told her I wasn’t sure I had complete authority over things and that she should also check with you and Mari, but she has two thumbs-up from me for everything. She’s planning to use the historical garden plan as the springboard and then create several special spaces that connect to gardens in popular books. It’s a brilliant idea and one that I haven’t seen anybody do before.”
“She’s very good at what she does,” Fiona confirmed. “I’ve recommended her to a couple of friends who needed gardens designed, and they’ve been extremely pleased.” She gave a small smile. “One of them has a hundred-acre estate in Scotland and tried to hire Alice to be her full-time gardener. But even though she kept escalating the salary, Alice wasn’t interested.”
“I had no idea she’s been turning down offers like that,” Malcolm said.
“She has her heart set on her own garden center somewhere nearby,” Fiona said.
“We really need to make that happen,” Malcolm said, more to himself than to the two of them.
Josie hoped the conversation she’d had with his sister had given her another perspective on letting him help her make her dreams come true.
“She’s shared her vision with me,” Fiona said, “and I think what she’d most like to do is to revitalize the walled garden at the old manor house and create a nursery with plants for sale. Perhaps even a restaurant onsite. But getting permission is difficult, of course, and then there’s the financial investment.”
“Oh, it would be incredible,” Josie said, gazing across at the manor house.
“If anybody can do it,” Malcolm said, “it’s Alice. At twenty-five, she’s the youngest head gardener at Kew.” He was so proud of his little sister, it was adorable.
Josie didn’t want to be drawn to this softer side of Malcolm, but she couldn’t help it. Time and time again over the last few days, he’d proved to be devoted to his family. He was close to his grandmother, wanted to help his siblings, obviously respected his parents. Now he was giving up his vacation to help create a reading retreat. Not the usual holiday plans for a billionaire.
Did that mean she should exclude him from her no-man-ever edict?
“I can’t wait to get inside these cottages,” Fiona said. “I studied historical furniture and textiles at university. I had thought to go into restoration at one time, but life had other plans.”
“You could still do that,” Malcolm said. “Lewis doesn’t need you around to take care of everything for him all the time. He can hire assistants for that.”
“No, I want to take care of him. He’s my husband. But it’s really nice to take a few hours occasionally to do something like this too.”
Josie had the key Mari had given her, and she unlocked the first of the cottages. “Here it is. Prepare yourself. It needs a lot of work. But I thought there might be some chairs and tables and perhaps even some embroidered wall hangings that might be salvageable.”
Fiona didn’t seem to be listening. She was already exclaiming over a chair.
“This is Georgian. It’s an absolute crime that it’s sitting here neglected.” She ran her hand over the curved back the way she might lovingly stroke a favorite pet. Then she peered closer at the needlework on the seat. “And if I’m not mistaken, this embroidery on the seat cover and back is more than a hundred years old.” She tipped the chair to study the underside. She glanced up, her eyes shining with excitement. “It could even be original. That would make it more than two hundred years old. I can’t believe this furniture has just been moldering away all these years.”