Page 30 of A Light in the Dark
“Have you tried this variety of mint before?”
“My garden doesn’t have mint in it right now,” he admitted. “I have been told mint takes over everything, and once it enters my home, it will never be leaving. I will forever be battling mint.”
I picked up the tray, which contained six baby plants, and held it his way. “But it’s not just mint. It’s chocolate mint.”
He swallowed, took the tray, and sniffed at the leaves.
Judging from the way his eyes crossed, his nose informed him he beheld heaven.
Before the poor man could make a fool of himself further, I took the plants out of his hand and set them in the cart. “As penance for forcing mint upon you, I will come and help contain it to its section of the garden.” I turned and pointed at the yellow and orange marigolds, which had made a strong showing on the list of plants favored by luna moths. “Those are pretty, and I bet you could make a little shield wall around your mint. Plant the marigolds in a circle around your mint, and when the mint encroaches upon your marigolds, trim them back. Then you’ll have a pretty combination of colors, too.”
The marigolds also came in strong reds, and I pointed at those as well. “You could circle them in color gradients around the mint to be extra pretty.”
Joel abandoned the herbs to attack the marigold supply, grabbing entire flats of the flowers and loading the bottom rack of the cart. When that filled, he moved the mint plantsto the top little section, which would have carried my purse had I not been aware that he would need every inch of space.
Once he filled the cart with marigolds, he heaved a sigh and said, “I’m going to have to make more trips.”
Aware my garden would need some love—and some treats for the neighborhood luna moths, I went to the mints, selected six plants for myself, all different types, and put them in the upper section with his precious mints. Then, as there were still some marigolds left, I selected a yellow one, an orange one, and a red one for myself. “This will be the start of my garden.”
I made sure to segregate my mints from his mints using the marigolds as a divider, moved the cart to the intersection, and turned it around. “Do you need any actual supplies to plant your stuff? Dirt? Plant food?”
“I’m actually somewhat okay on that, but I’m going to need a pot for the fairy house.”
“Take us to the pots.”
Joel pointed at the far side of the garden store, and amused that we had to navigate through an obstacle of plants, we worked our way over. We almost made it when a small rose bush, sporting sunset orange and red blooms, drew his eye. While the man stared at the plant, I checked the list for roses, determining luna moths viewed them as sacred treats, often not keeping them because they had a somewhat intoxicating effect on the shapeshifter.
More than a little amused over the idea of a shapeshifter getting drunk off a rose plant, I managed to make enough space in the cart for the rose. I pointed at the spot. “If it fits, it sits.”
Joel jerked his head up, and his eyes widened. Heregarded the space, then the rose, and with the same sort of excitement I expected from a child, he snatched the plant, hugging the plastic pot to his chest. “Do you know what this is?”
Apparently, it was the Holy Grail of rose plants. “It appears to be a rose plant.”
“This is an Earth bred Joseph’s Coat. It’s a red and gold heirloom variety, so to get it, it is bred in a closed warehouse so nothing else pollinates the roses. Then the seeds are gathered, new plants are grown, and the process is repeated. This variety is hundreds upon hundreds of years old.” Joel shoved his nose into one of the blooms and breathed in deeply. “I’ve been wanting one of these foryears.”
“If it fits, it sits,” I told him, gesturing to the spot again.
The probable shapeshifter refused to give up his prize.
I rolled my eyes, checked out the other roses, and spotted an even smaller plant with the same colored blooms. I went to it, checked its tag, and upon seeing it was, in actuality, another Joseph’s Coat, I picked it up, carried it to the cart, and placed it into the spot. “Very well. You can carry that one. But this one is mine, and if you want to indulge in illicit plant breeding, you will have to come visit my rose personally. You can also help me select a pot for it, because mine will be living indoors with a dedicated plant light.”
“You’re going to need a big pot for it,” he warned me.
“I am prepared to dish out for an insanely expensive pot that takes up a horrific amount of space in your SUV. If we pack plants into the pot, we can buckle it into the back so it won’t go on any unexpected adventures.”
“I’ll show you a good pot, and I’ll get one, too. I think I’llgrow mine indoors as well. This is too precious to leave to the weather’s whim.”
I heaved a sigh, understood my feet would be covered in rose plants by the time we left, and pointed where I was standing. “You wait here. I will get a second cart.”
“Get one of the flat ones,” he suggested.
I nodded, as large pots wouldn’t fit in the standard carts and we already had issues with the marigolds taking over. I headed off, acquired the appropriate cart, and returned to the rose section. Then, because I had issues and a garden to plant, I checked every single label for rose plants, with and without blooms, and put every last Joseph’s Coat onto the cart, leaving enough room for a sizable pot when finished.
All in all, we would be fighting over twelve rose bushes, and at least one would be mine.
“One would have been fine,” Joel muttered, still holding on to his prized plant.
“One would have been fine, but now you have eleven, so you can have a few that suffer through the weather’s whim while your favorite child lives indoors, safe and sound.” I pointed in the direction of the pots. “March, Joel. Pots need to be acquired, I need enough dirt to fill my pot, and we clearly have to unload the SUV and return, else your garden will consist of mint, marigolds, and roses.”
