The landscape changed from the trees, shrubs and grasses to fields after fields of colorful flowers and exotic plants. Drake stood up in order to get a better view. Acres of flowers vied for space. The gentle wind sent them in motion, producing hypnotic waves of color, purples and blues giving way to dazzling yellows, oranges and reds.

“The Mercier gardens,” Saria said, answering his unspoken question with one word. “They can keep them growing longer than most wildflowers too. I think they use smudge pots like the vineyards do.” She laughed as she said it, half serious and half joking.“They’ve got every kind of flower you could imagine, native to Louisiana as well as exotics.”

“I’ve never seen so many flowers. They must have a huge operation.”

Saria nodded a little proudly. “Charisse really is a genius and she has incredible olfactory skills. A client can come into her shop and she can design a perfume for that individual that is so incredible there is no one that can rival her. She’s really made something of herself and I’m glad for her. She honestly doesn’t have the best social skills, but her brother Armande makes up for it. Everyone likes him. He fronts the store and deals with orders and shipping as a rule and she designs the scents and runs the laboratory. Of course the gardeners tend the plants. They make a great team, although the greenhouse and hybrids are all grown by Charisse for scent.”

“With an operation this large, they must make a good living.”

“They ship all over the world,” Saria confirmed. “And Charisse is generous with the community. She poured money into the school and kept our little schoolhouse going so the children wouldn’t have to commute so far when the state was cutting the smaller schools.”

She took the boat in to a small pier, securing it to the wooden structure. Drake wasn’t altogether certain the pier would take his weight, but Saria jumped out, dragging a large, rather ornate picnic basket and thick blanket with her.

He followed her, conscious of the wood sagging ominously beneath him as he hurried after her. The ground was spongy, the soil a rich, dark color.

“They must have acres of flowers.”

“They have all sorts of plants. Many of them native to Louisiana, like bearded pink orchid, brown-eyed Susan, honeysuckle and blue sage. Others, not native, are carefully controlled, such as lavender, poppies, and of course there’s all kinds of plants and grasses, too many to name. Charisse had the gardeners give me a tour once. The schoolchildren come out once a year and tour the gardens and then see how perfume is extracted from the plants and made. It’s all quite interesting.”