‘Oh, these are wonderful,’ Connie cooed as we rounded the corner of the property and came across the rose patch. ‘Simply divine.’
‘Yeah, they’re alright, I guess,’ Samantha scratched her head, somewhere between bored and uncomfortable. ‘It’s a shame, really.’
‘A shame?’ Connie asked, turning back to her friend with a frown. ‘What’s a shame?’
‘That they won’t survive,’ Samantha said. ‘No way am I gonna be able to keep them going.’
‘But you simply must!’ Connie cried out, aghast. ‘Look at these roses! They’re divine.’
‘The last lady who lived here was the one with the gardening obsession. I’d have no idea how to get thornless roses to grow, let alone keep them alive.’
‘Well,’ Connie said, straightening up with a twinkle in her eye. ‘I’ll simply have to teach you.’
‘Oh…’ I said, smiling excitedly and very aware that it wasn’t reaching my eyes. ‘That sounds great.’
‘Doesn’t it just?’ she giggled, hooking my arm and walking alongside me through the garden patch. ‘Oh, we’ll have so much fun together!’
‘Look, I don’t know, I’m so busy, and I just don’t know how much time I’ll have,’ I said, semi-desperately. ‘And I’m just so tired from the moving—’
‘Nonsense, don’t you stress one bit,’ Connie shook her head. I smiled at her appreciatively and tapped her arm in thanks. ‘We’ll get up early on Saturdays and Sundays and do it. You’d be surprised how much time people waste on the weekends!’
‘Funny that,’ I said, dryly. ‘Oh, look, what are they? Petunias?’
I aggressively pointed at a patch of flowers far away.
‘Petunias?’ Connie frowned. ‘No, I don’t believe so… they don’t look anything like petunias. If anything they look just like the hybrid tea roses we passed on the way up here. Do you know how to grow hybrid tea roses? It’s actually quite fascinating; they need to be in well-drained soil, away from any pesky shade, and with just the right amount of—’
Her words slowly faded away as I ran back to the house as fast as I could.