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“I don’t know. I thought I’d put petunias out front in potters.”
“Then snapdragons. They’ll do well down here.”
Cornell eyed his father and Ali walking back and forth along the back of the house. “Mom was the gardener. Since when do you have a green thumb?”
Peter laughed. “I’ll have you know that I prune our rose bushes.” He turned to Ali. “My wife, Janice, doesn’t have the patience it takes to run a garden, but I find it quite calming.”
“I wish your son felt the same.” Ali sighed, looking at the empty flower beds.
“I bought you an orchid,” Cornell reminded her.
Ali crossed her arms. “And then you drowned it.”
“Ice cube,” Peter told Cornell. “Just once a week. Foolproof.”
Cornell shook his head, closing the grill. He motioned across the yard to Mowgli digging along the fence. “But are any of the things you want to plant out here Mowgli-proof?”
Ali whistled, and the big dog trudged across the lawn. “I’ll walk him before we eat.”
Cornell sipped his beer, glancing at his dad, still looking at the beds of dirt. He realized this was the first time Peter visited anywhere he lived beyond his dorm room in college. Their relationship had been so rocky that his father never bothered to drive up to Maryland where Cornell lived after graduating.
Cornell had never invited him, either.
“You talk with your sister lately?” Peter asked.
Cornell shook his head. “She started college and became too cool for me.”
“I was thinking about going out there in a few weeks, try to squeeze a visit in between meetings.” He glanced around the yard, at the house, eyeing the siding. “It’s a nice place.”
Cornell shrugged. “For a rental.”
“Would be nicer with flowers,” Peter said with a smile. “Ali seems to like flowers.”
“She loves them,” Cornell said. “But I don’t know how much longer we’ll be here.”
It might be another year. Or it could be a few more months when Hopperville’s season ends, depending on the follow-up calls with a few programs that had reached out to him.
Cornell didn’t miss the look of cautious intrigue that flashed on his father’s face—it had been almost a year since he had asked Cornell anything about his job apart from how the roster looked.
“Nothing’s certain.”
“Well, two birds, one stone,” said his father. “Make her happy and do something kind for the next tenants.”
Cornell opened the grill, flipping the steaks. “Anything to make her happy.”
Peter picked up his beer from the table. “I think you found yourself a keeper. Seems you two have something special going on.”
You don’t even know, Cornell thought to himself with a smile. “Total keeper. No doubts about it.” The feel of his father’s stare was so strong Cornell couldn’t ignore it. “What?”
“She’s it?”
Ali’s more than it.
Cornell thought back to last week when Beth called, panicked and out of breath. It had been one of the worst moments of his life, yet also one of the most revealing. Of course, Cornell had known that what he had with Ali was something special. But what he hadn’t known was that it was so special, that he would do just about anything to keep it that way.
“She’s a sure thing,” Cornell said. My something. He pointed to the dirt-filled garden beds. “Text me what I can plant in there now that will bloom in spring. I’ll surprise her.”
“You’ve got more game than I gave you credit for.” Peter cracked a grin before his face grew serious. “Wait here a second.”
