THE CAMELLIA TAVERN

CHAPTER 29: THE BEST DAMNED MEAL EVER

Wednesday, July 8

"Can I open my eyes now?" I ask for the third time in as many minutes.

"No," Warrick laughs.

"How 'bout now?" I try my luck once more.

"Milly," he demands.

  "Ok, ok."

  "You are terrible with surprises," he says. 

He's not wrong, but I refuse to admit it.

"Ok, on three. One...two...three."

I open my eyes and focus on what's in front of me.  It takes me a few seconds to realize what I'm looking at.  I'm standing in my own backyard, but there's something new there that wasn't there before. It looks like the beginnings of a raised garden.

What on Earth?  When did he have time to do this?  How?  I look back at him and then start to walk over to the garden that has appeared here literally overnight. 

"I know you love working in the garden with your granddad and that's a big part of the draw, but I thought it only right for you to have your own garden, as well."

"Warrick!  How did you pull this off?" I say with a giant smile across my face.

"I had some landscapers come out here yesterday and today when you were at my place.  I asked Jacinda and Merritt to keep you away from the house at all cost."

Well, that explains why they told me I couldn't come home because our house was being fumigated.  I thought it sounded odd since that usually only takes a few hours, but Jacinda insisted it was far too dangerous to breathe in the chemicals too soon.  And I totally fell for it.

I can't believe this! I mean, I really, truly can't believe he went to all of this trouble for me!

Not to mention, I don't even want to guess how much it cost him to get someone out here to do this in less than forty-eight hours.

I keep walking to examine my new garden more closely and find labels sticking out of the soil identifying different kinds of greens and a few other vegetables.

I can't believe I'm going to be able to grow my own food!!  Maybe I can even give some of them to Jacinda to use for her home cooked meals.

"There isn't as big of a variety as I would've preferred," Warrick says as he watches me survey my surprise.  "Not everything can be planted in July, of course."

I turn towards him and get a bit of a running start.  I jump up in his arms and he laughs and spins me around before setting me down. 

"Should I take that to mean you like your surprise?"

"Yes, Warrick!  Of course, I do! Thank you!"

    He smiles his big, beautiful smile and I swear my heart swells up to gigantic proportions. 

    "Can we come out now?" I hear Merritt say from the back door.

    "Yes," I say and motion for them to come out and see it firsthand. 

    She and Jacinda come bolting out of the back door like they've been waiting forever.

    "Do you love it, Mil?" Merritt asks and I nod vigorously.

    I see Jacinda high five Warrick out of the corner of my eye.  I'm sure they are both patting themselves on the back for pulling one over on me and, boy, did they. 

    "So are you gonna stay for dinner?" Jacinda asks him with her hands on her hips as if she fully expects him to say 'yes'.

    "Depends.  You cookin'?" he says to her.