Of course, the process of relocating her plants had been a comedy of errors. She and Truman had set the week of their permanent swap, and when the time came, Truman had gotten Horse on the road with minimal effort, whereas she had to swaddle each one of her plants and place them in the moving truck individually.

It had been enough to make her think she’d never want to acquire another plant ever again.

Until she had them unloaded, some greening up Truman’s house—now hers—some scattered around Carys, Helen, and Veronica’s house, and some planted in the garden. It only took about two days before she was wandering through town and the garden, seeing all the amazing plants and deciding she couldn’t wait to try her hand at them.

Now she was in the garden by herself, sun hat on against the summer heat, earbuds in so she could listen to ShadowCast. She’d begun growing lavender six months ago, and while it had been slow to start, once she’d figured out the perfect mix of soil for it, it grew in bushy swathes that scented the air sweetly and provided a feast for Veronica’s nearby bees.

It had begun with lavender because Helen and Veronica needed an inexpensive source for it to use in their lemonade.

Now, Greta was growing mint, sage, tarragon, and other herbs for their infusions as well as the edible flowers they decorated them with. In Maine, she’d often saved seeds from her fruit to sprout in the hopes of growing fruit trees, but they’d never lasted more than a few months. Here, Greta had sprouted lemon seeds and pineapple tops that were on their way to becoming trees that would produce fruit they could eventually use.

And while Greta had volunteered to grow herbs for Veronica and Helen with no expectations, given that she hung around the house all the time, she’d contributed so many ideas for their burgeoning business that as of two months ago, they’d invited her to join them in making it a reality.

In just one week, they were launching Lagniappe Lemonade, a line of locally sourced, locally crafted beverages, bottled in New Orleans, for sale by subscription. Helen and Veronica had used the profit they made selling their Mardi Gras king cakes for the start-up costs.

Greta piled armfuls of lavender and mint into her harvesting basket to take to Eleventh House. She was in charge of making the bundles of fragrant herbs that were to be their business cards for the launch, and Carys had offered to help, so Greta wanted to make it a date night.

Carys had taught the first summer session because she needed the money, but she was on vacation as of the week before, so Greta was thrilled to be able to spend more time with her.