Page 73 of Hollywood

“Ah, yes. Teach her now. So many kids lack an appreciation for the outdoors these days. How old is she?”

“A little over two.”

“Perfect,” he said. “She’ll be curious and inquisitive. My little grandson loves eating strawberries right out of the ground, too. We had to chase him down and stop him from eating the dirt with them.”

I laughed. “I could see Ruby doing that.”

He stopped by the wall and gestured to a control panel. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed, we’ve got irrigation systems. Climate-controlled temperature too.”

“So, why do you need me?”

“Well, our system does a lot for us, but it can’t do everything. We’ll need you for deadheading, pruning, or repotting as needed, adding inventory, updating us on plant health. There’s plenty to do, I promise.”

“What is deadheading?” Matteo asked.

“It means removing dead flowers or leaves,” I explained, reaching out to tug a brittle brown leaf off a hydrangea as we passed by.

Ken smiled. “Exactly right. I know this is basic stuff, but you wouldn’t believe how clueless some of my applicants are.”

“Tex helped run a greenhouse over in Hayworth,” Matteo said, as if it were something to be proud of.

Ken’s eyes lit up. “You mentioned greenhouse experience, but I didn’t realize it was that extensive.”

“It was a much smaller operation,” I said. “And it’s been out of business for a long time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ken said. “Losing it must have broken your heart. I know it’d devastate my family.”

Maybe it would have, if my heart hadn’t already been broken for so many other reasons.

I cleared my throat. “So, the irrigation is set on automatic timers, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, you might need to adjust them.” I pointed to the yellowed leaves on a spider plant. “This guy is getting too much water.”

Ken stopped and peered closer. “Well, I’ll be…”

I bent over it and sniffed, the scent telling me a bit more of the story. “The roots are starting to rot. If we don’t move this one, it might not recover.”

“Damn,” Ken muttered. “These really shouldn’t be by the canna lilies. They need more water.”

All the other varieties on this row thrived with steady watering, whereas the spider plant liked to dry out a bit. I headed down the aisle, scouting for a good relocation. “Spiders do well with peace lilies,” I said, pointing to a section of plants that required less watering and maintenance. There were snake plants, too, which enjoyed similar conditions to spiders.

Ken and Matteo had followed me, and the owner was frowning as he gazed at the selection of plants I’d pointed out.

“You disagree?” I asked.

“No, no. You’re absolutely right,” he said. “I’m justannoyed I didn’t catch it myself. You’ve got a coworker, Helena Gribble, over in the other greenhouse bay right now. I’ll introduce you before I leave. She’s my niece.”

“Okay,” I said carefully.

“She must have misunderstood my directions the last time I had some plants moved to incorporate new inventory.” He blew out a breath, shook his head, and then chuckled. “Well, it’s clear we’ve made the right hire. I’m counting on you to keep us from foolish mistakes like this.”

“I’ll do my best.”

He nodded. “Well, job one for tonight will be for you to get those plants moved. But first, let me show you the rest of the place. Part of your evening shift will be packaging up orders that need to be shipped out to grocery stores, smaller garden centers, and the like.”

Matteo followed us back into the storefront. “Well, I think I’ll leave you guys to it. Tex seems like he’ll do okay without me tagging along.”