Chapter 16
“ A little to the right, no, I meant the left. Your other right,” Shelly said as she guided Ivy toward the corner of the rear patio with a large stone pot full of flowering pink plants. “Right there. Now move it back about three inches. Perfect.”
“You said that about the last four pots.” Ivy shoved it over. She could identify the showy geraniums, but many others were nameless to her.
“And I was right about all of them.” Shelly stepped back, tilting her head to analyze the look.
The patio was a riot of color with pots of flowering plants. Ivy knew Shelly had coaxed many from seed or cuttings in the greenhouse. Her sister wanted these plants to establish themselves before the event.
A few days had gone by since the garden club’s first work session, and the property was starting to show real progress.
The front lawn and gardens were cleared and partly planted.
Moss and Vanz worked on improving the soil, and Sage’s first irrigation trenches cut across the landscape like lines on a blueprint.
For the first time in weeks, Ivy felt a bit more hopeful. She no longer believed the event would have to be moved or they’d miss their mark. They would have some semblance of success, though maybe not what Shelly had envisioned.
“The patio is starting to look good,” Ivy said, stepping back to take it all in.
The patio furniture and plants made little gathering spots with ample space for people to move without bumping elbows or careening into the pool.
From the French doors to the garden path, it all flowed, just like Shelly had promised.
Shelly smiled at the setting before her. “This is only the beginning. Have you seen my big box of fairy lights?”
“You mean the ones that aren’t in the budget?”
“Relax, I salvaged them from a freelance job I did last month.” Shelly put her hands on her hips, still beaming. “This will be spectacular.”
Ivy chewed her lip. “Please be kind to our lack of finances.”
“Don’t worry, I’m creative,” Shelly said with a flick of her hand. “I don’t need a Met Gala budget to turn heads. Wouldn’t hurt, though. Let me know if you find a pot of gold around here. We’re way overdue for it.”
Ivy slung her arm over Shelly’s shoulder. “Thanks for embracing chaos with me.”
Shelly laughed. “Are you kidding? I secretly love the mess.”
When they finished setting up the patio, Ivy saw Kiko sit down at one of the umbrella tables near the edge of the patio. She hadn’t seen her in a couple of days.
Her guest had an open journal and a pen in her hand. As she wrote, she stopped now and then to look across the beach. The ocean breeze ruffled the pages.
“I’ll be right back,” Ivy said to Shelly, who was already heading toward the greenhouse to check on something.
Ivy crossed the patio to Kiko. “Mind if I sit?”
Kiko looked up, and her face brightened. “Not at all. I was hoping to talk to you.” She closed the journal. “First, thank you again for extending my stay. I called my boss and took the full week off. He wasn’t thrilled, but I have the time off saved up.”
“Good for you. Everyone needs time away.”
Kiko picked up her tea and took a sip. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I got here. Writing helps me sort out my thoughts.”
“What have you been thinking about?”
Kiko set the cup down and leaned in, lacing her fingers. “Do you remember when you suggested I try Spirits & Vine?”
“Did you go?”
“That same evening. I wasn’t going to, but I wanted to be around people for a while.” Kiko tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I was sitting at the bar, listening to the jazz trio, when Ken walked in.”
“It’s a small town.”
Kiko’s cheeks colored slightly. “He was meeting a friend, but the friend had to cancel. He saw me sitting alone and asked if he could join me.”
“And you said yes this time.”
“I almost ran out the door, but I’d ordered food, so I had to stay. I also thought about what you said about exploring and not holding back.” She smiled. “So I told him he could sit down. And we talked for two hours.”
Ivy leaned back in her chair. “What did you talk about?”
“Oh, my gosh, everything. His work in finance, living in London and Tokyo, and what it was like to come back to Summer Beach after all that. He told me about leaving his corporate career to take care of his father. I think that took real courage. He’d built a life in New York, and he walked away from it because his father needed him. ”
“That does take courage. You know, Bennett thinks very highly of him.”
“I can see why. He asked me questions and actually listened to the answers. He didn’t try to impress me with his resume. He just talked about what mattered to him, but not in a boastful way. That was refreshing.”
Ivy tried not to read too much into it, but the way Kiko talked made it sound like more than just a chat between strangers at a bar.
“He told me about his father, Kenzo,” Kiko went on. “That’s who Ken is named for. His father was a surgeon at a nearby hospital. Ken said he grew up watching him tend the garden after long shifts. His dad tried to teach him the finer points of pruning and plant care, just as his father had.”
“Did he learn?”
Kiko smiled. “He said he didn’t always listen. He was a kid. He wanted to surf and hang out with his friends, not learn how to trim bonsai. It wasn’t until his father became ill that he realized what he’d been given. He wishes he’d paid more attention.”
“We always do.”
“That’s what I told him. We think our parents will be around forever when we’re young.” Kiko looked down at the pendant at her neck and touched it lightly. “He understood that. We have a lot in common in that way.”
They sat for a moment while the breeze carried the distant sound of the garden club kids working on the front lawn. Ivy could hear Thorn’s voice over the others, narrating his exploits for someone’s phone camera. They were still teenagers and having fun.
“And did you visit his garden?”
Kiko nodded, her eyes brightening. “The next afternoon, he picked me up. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.”
Ivy was interested. “That good?”
“Better than anything I imagined. It’s a traditional Japanese layout but adapted for this climate.
He had a koi pond with an arched wooden bridge over it.
With colorfully marked koi fish. Gravel was raked around moss-covered stones, and he showed me black pines that had been planted right after the war.
Stone lanterns lit the pathways. He even had a small tea house beside the water.
” She shook her head. “It felt like stepping into another world. No, more like another time.”
No wonder people were raving about Ken’s property. “His grandfather created the original design, right?”
“He told me that his grandfather fell in love with Japanese culture and built the garden as a place to find peace. His father, Kenzo, grew up in it. And now Ken is carrying on what they started. I love his responsibility toward history. So many people just tear things down and start over. But that place couldn’t be easily replicated. ”
“I feel the same way about this property,” Ivy said. “Homes gain a certain patina over time.”
Kiko sighed. “I’ve never owned a home, so I wouldn’t know. Someday I hope to.”
The Ericksons might have built this sprawling old beach house, but it was Ivy’s turn to be a steward of it. Just as Viola felt about the Ericksons’ primary home in San Francisco. These unique properties were reflections of earlier times.
“Did Ken talk about his plans?” Ivy asked.
“He thought about going back to New York after his father passed,” Kiko replied.
“But he decided this is where he wants to build a life. He loves Summer Beach. He told me about growing up here, surfing every morning, and riding his bike to school.” Kiko’s voice was warm.
“He wants to raise his children here someday.”
Ivy liked seeing Kiko open up. Every time they talked, Kiko seemed to let down her guard a little more.
“He asked me a lot of questions, too,” Kiko said. “About my work and growing up in San Francisco. He seemed interested in all of it. Not politely interested. Genuinely.”
Kiko’s face glowed. Ivy smiled and asked, “How did you feel when you were with him?”
Kiko picked at the edge of her journal. “Like I didn’t want the afternoon to end. He also invited me to spend a day in San Diego with him. He suggested the Japanese Friendship Garden and Museum in Balboa Park. Have you ever been there?”
Ivy nodded. “It’s worth a visit. You should go while you’re here.”
“He said we could have tea and walk through the exhibits. Then, visit the Botanical Building nearby, since it’s recently renovated.
On the way, we could stop off to see the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, which are in bloom right now with the most amazing ranunculus.
He also knows orchid growers in Encinitas who have thousands of varieties and some of the largest collections in the world.
But that’s probably for another day.” She paused, smiling.
“My grandmother loved orchids, so they remind me of her.”
Ivy was happy for her. Maybe they would keep in touch after Kiko left, but now was what mattered. “That sounds like a full day.”
“There’s more.” Kiko bit her lip, trying not to smile. “He knows a Japanese restaurant where we can watch the sunset over the water. We could end the day there.”
Ivy raised her eyebrows. “He’s clearly put some thought into this. He’s planned an entire day of events for you.”
“Honestly, I’m a little overwhelmed by it.
” Kiko folded her hands in her lap. “Yet, I want to go, and I feel excited about it, which surprises me. I came here to research my grandmother’s history and relax on my own, not to spend my days driving to Balboa Park with a man I just met at a coffee shop. ”
“Life has a way of rearranging your plans, if you let it.” Ivy thought about how her plans had changed after meeting Bennett again. He’d once been her teenage surfing crush, and he hadn’t recognized her when she returned.
“But should I go? I keep telling myself I’m only here for a short time. I don’t want to start something I can’t see through.”
Ivy paused to think about how to answer. She could give a careful, pleasant response as she often did with guests. But Kiko needed more than that.
“When I moved to Summer Beach, I was grieving and angry,” she began.
“I had no plans beyond surviving the next day. I certainly wasn’t looking for a relationship.
And then Bennett was just there, impossible to ignore, and making me uncomfortable.
Then that changed. If I hadn’t taken a chance, I would have missed the best thing that ever happened to me. ”
A shy smile spread across Kiko’s face.
“If you feel excited about spending the day with Ken, that’s your answer. You only live once. You never know where life will take you, so you must get out there and explore. Your grandmother told you that when she left you the money to come here.”
Kiko laughed. “She absolutely did. I’m overthinking it.”
Just then, Bennett strolled onto the patio. He’d changed out of his City Hall clothes into a casual shirt with the sleeves rolled up. From the amused look on his face, he’d caught part of their conversation.
He wrapped his arms around Ivy from behind and kissed the side of her cheek. “I second everything she just said.”
“Were you eavesdropping?” Ivy asked.
“Only the good parts.” He turned to Kiko. “If my wife tells you to seize the day, listen. She’s usually right.”
“Then I’ll tell Ken yes. Thank you both,” she added, rising.
As Kiko headed back toward her room, Ivy leaned against Bennett. “We should do the same after the Spring Fling is over. Take a day for ourselves. Maybe drive up to Santa Barbara, or down to La Jolla.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” He tightened his arms around her. “Pick the day. I’ll clear my schedule.”
They stood together on the patio, watching as the sun approached the horizon and flung golden rays across the sea.
Shelly was directing the final cleanup while the garden club kids packed up for the day. Vanz and Moss hauled away the last wheelbarrow of compost.
Ivy’s phone buzzed. She pulled it from her pocket and read the text, smiling.
“What’s up?” Bennett asked.
“Sage’s uncles. Apparently, Victorian greenhouses are a shared passion. However, this one…”
“What’s wrong?”
Her heart dropped at the rest of the text. “They have some concerns. Whether it’s salvageable or not. They might not come tomorrow, or they could come to give an estimate on removal.”
Bennett rubbed her shoulder. “They really think it’s a teardown?”
Ivy nodded sadly. “If it is, I couldn’t bear to do it until after the big event. It also feels like a betrayal to Amelia Erickson, as strange as that sounds.”
“No, but this is concerning,” Bennett said, frowning. “How are you going to break this to Shelly?”
“I’m not yet. She’s been so happy today. And now this. Just when things were looking up.”
Bennett smoothed his hand over hers. “Isn’t Poppy rallying the cousins for a weekend of work?”
She nodded. “If it needs to be torn down, I guess they could do it. But I’d rather wait.”
Her gaze drifted toward the weathered greenhouse, standing majestically against the sea, with palm trees swaying overhead. The inn wouldn’t be the same without this relic from another era.
Once again, she needed a miracle.