Sowing The Seeds Of Love Part 20

'It's just that I thought, you know, what happened inside...'

'I wouldn't let an ignorant p.r.i.c.k like him get to me.'

Except it was clear that he had.

She let the silence settle between them for a while. Then: 'It must have been strange for you, growing up Jewish in Dublin.'

'Not really. Most of the time it made no difference at all. I barely thought about it until my bar mitzvah.'

'So you had that, then?'

'Oh, yes.'

'And were you...?'

'Yes, Aoife, I am circ.u.mcised.'

She gave an embarra.s.sed laugh. 'I suppose everyone wants to know that.'

'Pretty much.'

'You must get sick of people asking.'

'Depends on who's doing the asking.'

He smiled at her then. Right into the pit of her stomach.

'What was Uri like when you were growing up?'

'He was pretty strict. A lot stricter than he is with Kathy. He wanted me and Aaron to "make something of ourselves".'

'Well, he got his wish.'

Seth smiled again and cast his eyes down, almost bashfully. 'Ah, you know. We had our moments. Mostly when I was a teenager. Didn't want to go to synagogue. Wouldn't study. Gave back cheek. The usual pain-in-the-a.r.s.e stuff.'

'You? A pain in the a.r.s.e? I don't believe it.'

'Yeah, well, it's true.'

'And how do you feel about it now? The religious side of things.'

'Well, it doesn't do all that much for me, but it means a lot to him. So I respect that. Respect him. More than anyone else, really. He's been through a lot, my da. And he's come out of it one of the best people I know. If I can be half the man he is, half the father to Kathy that he was to me and Aaron, well, I'll be doing pretty well.'

Seth, who seemed to have lost himself in this reverie, came back sharply into focus. 'Anyway, what are we doing standing around here, woman? There's work to be done.' He handed her a spade. 'Get digging.' He walked away then to fetch a bag of compost, or so he said.

Aoife watched him go. A thought came unbidden: I could love this man.

She was momentarily distracted by the sight of Mrs Prendergast coming across the garden. She didn't look at Aoife but headed straight for Uri. He stopped what he was doing and turned to face her. Mrs Prendergast spoke earnestly to him, beseechingly, her body tense and bent slightly forward, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. When she'd finished, Uri looked at her for a few long seconds. Then he embraced her warmly and the two linked arms and walked towards the house, disappearing together through the wooden door.

'Did you see that?' said Seth, coming to stand by her side.

'I did.'

'What do you reckon it was all about?'

'She was probably apologizing for Lance.'

'She shouldn't have to.'

'Well. Maybe she wanted to. Unless...'

'What?'

'There could be more to it.'

'Like what?'

'Maybe you're getting a new mammy.'

They both laughed and everything felt okay again. At least to Seth. To Aoife, it was as if the entire universe had been flipped on its head.

28.

It was so odd. So unfathomable to her. That moment in time when everything switched. The inner shift in consciousness that altered her world. One minute Seth was a friend, objectively attractive, undeniably useful, mildly annoying, and now she was thinking about him every second of the day. Obsessing about him. Could he tell? Could he feel the desire radiating off her in waves? Her wanton want?

Was it just like Peter all over again? Nature, her body, her emotions tricking her when ultimately all was an illusion? A house of cards that would come tumbling down in the face of reality?

She didn't know. She tried to ignore it and took refuge in what she did know. The garden.

It was mid-July and this was what the garden looked like. Four quadrants. The kitchen garden tomatoes, lettuce, runner beans, spuds, Swiss chard, courgettes, cabbages and carrots. Aoife was particularly entranced by the carrots. You could see their broad orange tops poking up through the soil, as if somebody had bought them in a shop and shoved them whole into the ground. She was insanely proud of all her vegetables and privately thought them even more beautiful than the riotous flowers in Emily's sensory garden, although she had to admit that the girl had performed quite a task. None of her colours clashed, even where you might have expected them to do so. s.h.a.ggy yellow daisies alongside violet allium. Bright orange lilies against deep blue delphiniums. Who would have thought? It was like a grand experiment to prove that everything in nature worked in harmony.

Mrs Prendergast's roses were like something out of a dream tunnels of archways and trellises. Uri's fan-shaped fig tree dominated the back wall of the orchard. The apple trees sported their little green orbs, and there were alpine strawberries, rows of them, raspberry canes, gooseberry bushes, cultivated brambles. The dividing herbaceous border grew high and powerful. The pond teemed with life. Everywhere there were patches of glory, yet the garden, still in its infancy as gardens went, had yet to obtain an all-important unity. A vital maturity. All the elements hadn't quite come together, although they were working on it, nature and the gardeners, in their divine collaboration. All it would take was time. Time they didn't have. Because one day it happened.

It was a Sat.u.r.day morning.

'What's he doing to the sign, Mummy?'

A man, presumably from the estate agent's, was up a ladder hammering the words 'Sale Agreed' across the for-sale sign. Aoife stood stock still.

'What is it, Mummy?'

'Nothing.' She was grateful he couldn't yet read.

Aoife walked rapidly over to the man, sorely tempted to kick the ladder out from under him. 'What do you think you're doing?'

'My job,' he said mildly, jumping lightly to the ground and lifting up the ladder as if it were made of air. He walked away from her, whistling maddeningly. She experienced an irrational surge of anger towards him, which the logical side of her brain knew was misdirected. But she had to direct it somewhere, because it was about to consume her. She entered the garden. Seth stood in the centre, in front of the pond, gazing up at the sign.

She went up to him, her new-found feelings for him pushed aside. 'You've seen it, then.'

'Yeah.'

'What are we going to do?'

'What can we do?'

'Try and talk her out of it. Convince her not to sell.'

'But she's already accepted an offer.'

'But the sale hasn't gone through yet.'

'Aoife...'

'We can't just give up.'

He didn't say anything, just looked at her calmly. She found this even more infuriating than the estate agent's whistling. 'Seth, don't tell me you're going to stand by and let this happen.'

'Aoife, you always knew it would one day. We all did.'

'I know. But I always held out a little bit of hope. Didn't you?'

'Not really, no.'

'Then why did you help us?'

'Maybe I have a weakness for a lost cause.'

'This is not a lost cause. Don't you dare call this garden a lost cause.' She could hear her voice rising dangerously high. A few seconds more and she'd be out of control.

'Calm down, Aoife.'

'Don't tell me to calm down. Patronizing git!' Seth looked taken aback. Then he laughed, angering Aoife even more. 'How dare you laugh at me?'

'I'm not laughing at you, Aoife. I know you're upset but it's happened. You have to let it go.'

'Let it go? How can I do that? How can you?'

'We have no choice.'

'There's always a choice. Always something you can do. I'll set up a pet.i.tion. We can go door to door. I'm sure local people will support the garden.'

'But it's private land.'

'Why are you being so negative?'

'I'm not. I'm being realistic.'

'I can't just do nothing. Can't you see that? I can't let this all have been for nothing.' Her voice cracked.

Seth took her shoulders and turned her to face the garden. 'It hasn't been for nothing,' he said. 'Never say that. Just look at what you've achieved. Look at it. You've created something out of nothing. This beautiful garden out of a... wilderness. Never say that it's been for nothing, Aoife. It's incredible, what you've done. You're nothing short of a G.o.ddess.' He squeezed her shoulders. 'A green G.o.ddess.'

She could feel his breath on the side of her face, the warmth of it. His body stood directly behind hers, so solid, so rea.s.suring. It would be easy just to yield, sink back into him. Why didn't she?

'Aoife.' It was Mrs Prendergast.

At the sound of the older woman's voice, Aoife stiffened again and swung around to face her, twisting Seth's hands off her shoulders. At last. A worthy target for her rage. 'How could you do that?'

'I take it you've seen the sign.'

'It's hard to miss.'

'I understand that you're upset, but I never misled you.'

'Not with your words, but with your actions you did.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Getting so involved in the garden. Encouraging us. Your b.l.o.o.d.y roses. Have you thought about that? Your precious roses. They'll all be ripped up.'

'We'll find good homes for all the plants, Aoife.' Seth laid a steadying hand on her arm but she shook it off, angry with the whole world.

'Of course I've thought about it,' said Mrs Prendergast, her tone and expression cold. 'What I actually came over to ask you both was if you'd like to come to the house for dinner tonight. I've already asked your father, Seth, and he can make it.'

'I'd love to, thanks,' said Seth, sounding remarkably gracious.

'Aoife?'

'I'm afraid I'm washing my hair,' said Aoife, sounding remarkably ungracious.

'There's no need to be like that, my dear. I'm planning to make a special dinner, using mainly produce from the garden.'

'You're going to use my vegetables to make your your last supper. Unbelievable!'

'I'd just like a chance to explain...'

'What's the point? Will you be sitting there counting your money? Go to h.e.l.l, Mrs Prendergast.' She walked out of the garden, not wanting either of them to see the tears that were crowding at the corners of her eyes. She'd had so much work planned for today. But now it all seemed pointless.

A couple of hours later, she was curled up on the couch feeling sorry for herself. She had given up the pretence of marking papers and was flicking from one channel to the next. The doorbell rang. 'Oh, go away,' she murmured, making no attempt to answer it.

After a spell, it rang again.

'p.i.s.s off.' She covered her face with a big furry cushion and willed whoever it was to give up.