Sister Swap

“—if we were to treat this wall as a kind of time line, we could create quite a fascinating walking history lesson on the development of rose species, dating from sixteenth-century varieties such as Eglantine and Austrian Copper and—and—” Yikes! “—Maiden’s Blush…” Whew! “…through to the hybrid teas cultivated since, um, 1867—” Was that date right? “—going from one end of the wall to the other. And that would mean we could leave the main garden as an exercise in pure drama.” She stopped channeling Rowie for a minute and dropped right into Rox. “And I love drama in a garden, don’t you?”

Harlan’s Reason Number Four: “You always think other people will agree with you.”

“Color and scent and big, showy effects,” she went on, knowing it was too late to stop now, so she might as well sell the idea as best she could. “A garden you can really breathe and see and feel and be passionate about.”

Gino looked blank again.

He was good at that.

Blank, arrogant shock at the fact that other people were so much slower to grasp things than he was. “Then why didn’t you plan it that way in the first place?” he said.

Rox’s turn at doing the blank look. “You mean you like the idea?”

“Yes. Very much. You’re right. We should keep the history and the drama separate. Why haven’t you suggested this before?”

“I—I thought—at the meeting—you wanted—”

“I don’t remember saying so.”

“Well, Francesco…”

“Hmm, possibly Francesco might have, but I doubt he gave it much thought. Look, is it too late to do it this new way? The other way around, as you put it? Would it drastically change which roses you’ve ordered, and how many, and your timetable for planting?”

Yikes, again.

How should I know?

“I—I’d have to check my notes.”

And call Row.

Even if it is, what, around six in the morning in Florida.

“Do that, then, and get back to me with your answer as soon as possible. I like the new idea better.”

He was already moving toward the house, calling Pia’s name over his shoulder as he went. Pia didn’t come. She was still throwing bits of gravel. “Pia, it’s time to come in now,” he said more sternly. “And I will not have any nonsense about it!”

The pale gravel looked like fallen blossom on the brown earth beside the vines. Pia picked up another piece, scowling just like her daddy.

“Go in,” Gino told Rox. His mouth had gone tight. “I’ll handle this.”

Back at the palazzo, from which Pia’s frustrated screams could barely be heard, the housekeeper told Roxanna that there was a phone message waiting for her.

Whew! In Florida, Rowie was up early. Rox could call her right back and learn just how deep a hole she’d dug herself into.

“From Francesco,” Maria said.

“I’ll, uh, phone him from my room.”

Once I’ve thumbed frantically through Rowena’s notes to find his number in Rome. I know she wrote it down for me somewhere…

“Hi-i-i, Francesco!”

“You’re back? It’s so good to hear your voice.” His breath swept heavily into her ear through the earpiece of the phone. “I left you alone while you were in London, I knew you needed time. But I’ve missed you, the way a thirsty flower misses rain. Have you missed me, sweetheart?”

“I’ve been thinking about you…” True, but not the way he thought.

“And have you made a decision?”

“About…” Rox let the word hang, hoping he’d fill in the blank for her, even though she was pretty sure what decision he was talking about.

And it didn’t involve roses.

Instead, he took her hesitation as an answer he didn’t want. “Haven’t I given you long enough? More than long enough? Let me tell you, my darling little American, there comes a point where a woman’s holding back stops increasing a man’s interest and becomes only annoying.”

Annoying?

Annoying?

Roxanna thought about the long, tearful session she’d had with Rowie in London, when they should have been talking detail on the Di Bartoli garden. She thought about all of Row’s doubt, her anguished questions about what she really felt and what Francesco really wanted. She unfortunately didn’t think about whether opening her mouth and speaking her mind might endanger the very contract she’d come here to protect.

Francesco had a fiancée, dang him. He’d said all these fervent, romantic, irresistible European-type things to Rowena, but did he love her? Really? Would he put his money where his mouth was and break it off with Marcellina? Did Rowena want him to?

“I just can’t, Rox,” Rowie had said in London. “I can’t give him what he wants. I—I don’t think he means any of it. N-not really. I’m so confused. I want him to mean it, but in my heart…”

And Francesco had no clue about the anxiety disorder, no clue about Row’s strong principles, her sweet, naive belief in a perfect happy-ever-after, her pretzel-like attempts to please everyone she cared about and her determination not to hurt his fiancée, a woman she hadn’t even met, and dismissed all of this as merely annoying?

“You want an answer right now?” Rox asked him.

“I am hungry for it! I am hungry for you. Marcellina means nothing to me. I will marry her, yes, of course, because, you understand, it is what I owe my family, but you will always be—”

“Okay, here’s my answer. Go take a flying leap! Is that enough of a decision for you?”

“Rowena…?”

“Go take a flying flip at the moon, Francesco Di Bartoli. Clear now?”

With a tingling, light-headed sense of satisfaction, Roxanna slammed down the phone.

Chapter Three

So…I, um, said no to Francesco for you, Rowie.” They’d already discussed the major change to the design concept of the garden. At just after six on a Thursday morning in Florida, Rowena had been a little taken aback, but then she’d quickly seized on the idea and gotten inspired.

She hadn’t thought to go so far beyond the original design, but she loved the idea of a historical time line, and yes, it should only make a small difference to which roses she’d ordered. She could tell Roxanna exactly what changes would be required, and she’d only need to make one follow-up call to each of the two specialist rose nurseries.

Meanwhile, she could work on creating bilingual plaques in Italian and English describing the history of each antique variety. The information could be tied in to historical developments in cosmetics and medicine, making that part of the garden a showpiece for visiting business associates of the Di Bartoli Corporation. Rosa gallica officinalis, for example, was used for medicinal purposes for centuries, as well as for perfume-making.

If Rowena did some more research on the subject…