About A Meeting of Minds
by Del Darcy
26 pages
/ 12800 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-136-5, 1-60370-136-2
Available file types - html. lit, pdf, prc
Ryan Bailey is happy to take on the renovation of River Bend's historical gardens. What he's not so happy about is Terry Jones, the outspoken gardener who likes River Bend just the way it is.
Outside the gardens, Ryan and Terry fnd out they get along much better. They don't just like each other; they're hot enough to burn. Can they find a way to work together and enjoy each other's charms?
Sample
"There he is."
Gloria Davenport waved a manicured hand and grimaced prettily at her companion, Ryan Bailey.
Ryan turned his head, hiding his smile at Gloria’s hand wave. Pointing a finger, of course, would have been ill-bred and Gloria certainly wouldn't want to appear ill-bred, not even to a lowly employee like himself. Trying for a serious expression, Ryan looked through the French doors, where she indicated. A tall man, with wild, dark brown hair, much longer than Ryan's own, was standing there at the bottom of the steps.
He was staring, arms folded, out at the gardens of River Bend -- once a villa, now a museum.
"I asked him to wait for you, because he needs to meet you and show you the gardens himself. I'm afraid he wasn't very happy about it. But, as you have guessed by now, Terry isn't going to be happy about any of this."
"I gathered that," Ryan said. "But you're counting on him to be my main contact?"
"He should be; actually, of course, he should have been in charge of this whole project."
Gloria glanced at Ryan, clearly checking his reaction to that.
Ryan sighed inwardly at her goading as she managed to imply that he wasn't the right man for the job, and that he needed to suck up to the man who was, in a few well-chosen words. Maybe Gloria wasn't the society lapdog he'd assumed she was. He ignored the gambit she’d aimed at him, and focused on Terry. "And instead, you and the board are all dragging him along, kicking and screaming," he said.
Gloria studied him, but Ryan wasn't mad, and he let that show in his face. He was just ... assessing. He stood there easily, feet a little apart, leaning back on his heels, his hands in the pockets of his slacks, staring at the motionless back of the chief groundskeeper of River Bend.
Gloria put her hand on the sleeve of his suit jacket. "Terry is much too laid-back to resort to kicking and screaming. But naturally we would prefer that he get on board for the renovation project. Instead, he's..." She seemed to be trying to choose a suitable word, a word that wouldn’t be too impolite.
"Not," Ryan supplied, smiling briefly.
She smiled back, and nodded her assent. "I'll leave you to it, then. You have my cell number if you should need me."
"Thank you," Ryan said. He took his hands out of his pockets, but she didn't offer to shake. She left him there, her high-heeled shoes clicking delicately across the gallery's tile floor, crossed by squares of light from the tall windows.