The First Gardener

by Denise Hildreth Jones

  And Gray had to admit he’d made some poor decisions in the beginning. He had approached his first year of the whole budget process with an ax instead of a pruner, generating anger instead of a healthy team spirit in the General Assembly. He’d learned quickly that Robin Hood wouldn’t accomplish his goal of being a unifier. He had spent the last two years working closely with his colleagues in the legislature. But the impression he’d made that first year still haunted him, especially when it came to the media.

  He looked at the stack of papers on his desk and picked up the folder that held his weekly agenda. His phone beeped.

  “Good morning, Governor.” The familiar voice sounded tired.

  “Morning, Fletch. Tell me that you and Kurt slept.”

  “What’s sleep?” Fletcher Perry was Gray’s communications director and another friend from college days. “Anyway,” he added, “we’ve got the special session meeting today with the Education Oversight committee and the TEA members before we go to final vote. Anything you need me to have a heads-up about before we meet? Any announcement you want to make?”

  Gray leaned back in his chair. “No, I think we’re good. We’ll make an announcement after we have the vote. A few committee members still feel wishy-washy to me. I don’t want to play anything until we know it is solid.”

  “Sounds good. You headed this way?”

  “A little later. It’s Maddie’s big day.”

  “Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Well, I’ll see you when you get Mack put back together.”

  Gray laughed. “You won’t want to wait that long, I assure you.” Gray hung up and looked at his watch. His girls should be up by now. And he knew exactly what they would be doing.

  Chapter 4

  If heaven had a backyard, it would look like this.

  Mackenzie stood on the mansion’s back veranda, breathing in the dampness of the already-sticky day and enjoying the breathtaking beauty before her. This home had been named “Far Hills” when it was built in 1929 because of the spectacular view. A large fountain and a reflecting pool adorned the middle of the grounds, the splashing water circled by stonework that seemed to hold the fountain in the palm of its hands. From there, immaculate manicured gardens spread out. Boasting some of the South’s most beautiful flowers and trees and at least thirty varieties of roses, they were tended by trustees from the Tennessee prison system under the careful supervision of Jeremiah Williams. In charge of these grounds for the last twenty-five years, Jeremiah ran as tight a ship as few she’d ever met and was as kind as few she’d ever known.

  Mackenzie looked at the playhouse that sat next to the swing set and the trampoline. It was just one of the reasons she treasured Jeremiah. Their first week in the mansion she’d been so busy setting up their home that she’d had little time to focus on Maddie. Eugenia was away on a long-planned cruise with her girlfriends, so Mackenzie hired a babysitter.

  But Maddie was far more intrigued with Jeremiah, who seemed to know exactly what an almost-three-year-old needed. He made sure her swing set was set up their first day in the house. And when Maddie got bored with swinging, he took the time to show her and the babysitter around the garden.

  By the end of that week, Maddie knew the Tennessee state flower was a purple iris and could name quite a few other plants. And by the end of the second week, Jeremiah had built her the most beautiful playhouse, fully equipped with a little bench and a tiny flower garden out front.

  Mackenzie had looked at that playhouse and burst out crying. Her emotion had startled him.

  “Ain’t mean to do nothin’ wrong, ma’am.”

  “You didn’t, Jeremiah. It’s just . . . well, my dad made me one just like that when I was a little girl.”

  He nodded. “I knowed your dad. Good man, Judge Quinn.”

  She looked into Jeremiah’s black eyes and saw compassion. “You knew my father?”

  “Yep, met him a time or two. And he always do what’s right. Ain’t ever heard one bad thing ’bout that man.” He chuckled. “’Cept from folks he done put in jail.”

  She laughed too. “Thank you. My dad would have loved Maddie’s playhouse.”

  “Ain’t nothin’. Just think little girls need playhouses; that’s all.”

  She had leaned over and kissed his freckled cheek, startling him once again. “You just gave me a piece of my daddy, Jeremiah.” And from that day on, a friendship had developed between the two of them, one that ran to deep places, strong enough to bridge the gap between an elderly African American gardener and a much younger governor’s wife.

  Mackenzie hugged herself, her fingers rubbing the smooth silk of her baby-blue Christian Dior robe. She came out here nearly every morning to greet the day. But today her heart was in her throat, and she was exhausted. She had stayed up until two getting everything ready. Now every crease of Maddie’s little skirt was perfect. The white collar of her polo shirt lay as if it had just come from the store. Her little backpack contained supplies and a few secret treats.

  Madeline London was ready for kindergarten. Whether her mother was ready—that was another question.

  “I’m here, Mommy.” Maddie’s little hand tugged at her mom’s side. The other rubbed at the sleep in her eyes while still managing to hold on to her doll, Lola.

  Mackenzie looked down into those endless blue eyes and took Maddie’s hand for their morning ritual. It had been Mackenzie’s alone for years, but since Maddie had learned how to talk, she’d decided it would be hers too. And as if she had some internal alarm, Maddie always showed up right on time.

  Mackenzie glanced at the tiny fingers interlaced with her own, fingers that barely made it past her knuckles, and thought, This is the best moment of the day. Nothing else in her life—not the twenty countries she had visited or the hundreds of events she attended or the soirees she herself arranged—meant as much as these sweet moments with her baby girl.

  “Would you like to start, Maddie?”

  “Sure!” Her voice rang out, saturated with the sweetness only a child could have. “Our Father who art in heaven . . .”

  Mackenzie tried to join in, but the lump was too hard and thick in her throat. She finally got out a whisper, and in unison, they welcomed the day. Mackenzie was certain it welcomed them back.

  “Great job.” Mackenzie knelt down and pulled Maddie into a bear hug. Maddie flung both arms around her in response. Unfortunately, one hand still held Lola. “Ow!” Mackenzie laughed as the doll crashed against her back.

  Maddie leaned back and stared at Mackenzie with that thirty-year-old look that came over her sometimes. “It’s a really big day, Mommy.”

  “Yes, I know. Really big.”

  She slid her hands up Mackenzie’s arms. “I’m a big girl now.”

  A soft burst of laughter stopped the tears. “Yes, this is what big girls do.”

  “Big girls go to school and have teachers and take their lunch.” Maddie’s black bob bounced slightly as she patted Mackenzie’s arms. It was the “big girl” haircut she had asked for this summer.

  Mackenzie leaned over and kissed the soft olive skin of her little one’s face. “How about we just start with breakfast?”

  Maddie clapped her hands. “Chocolate gravy and biscuits!”

  The little girl had returned, and Mackenzie was grateful. “On a Monday?”

  Maddie’s hands moved to her tiny hips and pressed her pink satin nightgown to her waist. “It’s not every day you start school, you know.”

  Mackenzie shook her head and grabbed Maddie’s hand. “You’re right. What was I thinking?”

  Maddie raised the doll in her hand. “For Lola too.”

  “Of course. This is a big day for Lola too.”

  Mackenzie let the hand of her little one swing with hers as they stepped forward into their new life as kindergartner and kindergartner’s mother.

  Chapter 5

  Gray caught Mack coming down the stairs, her sweater over her arm and a pair of Maddie’s socks in her hand. He co
uld only imagine where she’d found those, probably on top of the breakfast table. He waited at the bottom for her, his blue eyes taking her in. Even after sixteen years of marriage, he never got tired of looking at his wife.

  And she looked wonderful today, even though her eyes were a little puffy. He loved her in red, and this dress was one of his favorites. It was sleeveless, so it showed that hint of a dip in the top of her bicep, proof that even if she gave in to temptation and overdosed on sweet tea, the girl still could tear up a Boot Camp class.

  “You are one beautiful first lady.” He leaned in to kiss her.

  “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.” She laid the socks and sweater across the banister and straightened his yellow- and blue-striped tie, though it was already perfectly straight. Straightening his tie was just part of her morning routine. And this woman loved routine.

  “Our baby girl still in the kitchen?”

  “In the kitchen, about to be led to the bathroom.”

  “You headed to get her?”

  “Yep.”

  “And how’s my other baby girl?”

  He could tell she was fighting hard against the tears, but they welled up before she could retrieve them. She bit her lower lip and shook her head. He pulled her toward him, his mouth resting against her ear. “She’s going to love it, babe. By the end of the week, she’s going to be begging us to take her.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder, and he felt the surge of tears as he held her body close to his. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she whispered.

  He let her stay there until she was ready to let go. Finally she pulled away and dabbed a tissue at her running mascara. “Probably should have just gone in my sweats with no makeup, huh?”

  Gray laughed and took her by the hand, leading her into the kitchen. “How’s my Maddie lady today?” He pulled his daughter from her barstool and wrapped her, sticky fingers and all, in his arms.

  Mack grabbed a damp towel to wipe off his jacket. “You’re either going to have to change or spend your day feeling like a booth at a waffle house.”

  “Who cares about a little syrup.” He kissed Maddie’s face and set her down again.

  “Yeah, who cares about a little syrup, Mommy,” Maddie echoed.

  “Well,” Mackenzie answered, moving from Gray’s jacket to Maddie’s fingers, “it’s time to get that face washed and some clothes on that body. And don’t forget Lola,” she added as Maddie jumped down from the stool and started for the door.

  “Lulu can stay here with me.” Gray smiled as Maddie turned, pressing her small hand against the curve in her hip and cocking her leg out the way Mack had done a thousand times. Mack pressed her lips together to hide her amusement. Rosa turned back toward the griddle, her shoulders shaking.

  “Her name’s not Lulu, Daddy. Her name is Lola.” Indignation flashed in her blue eyes. They were complete replicas of his own—as far as he could tell, his only contribution to Maddie. Otherwise she was Mack made over, from her tiny frame to her anything-but-tiny personality. And she was growing up so fast.

  He put his hand over his mouth. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry. I forgot.” He extended his hand toward the doll, who was still flopped on the island near Maddie’s plate. “Lola, please forgive me.”

  “You say that to her every day,” Maddie reminded, hand still firmly planted.

  “I know. But sometimes I need to be forgiven a little every day. Plus, Daddy’s getting old. My memory’s not what it used to be.”

  Maddie walked over to Gray’s barstool. He leaned down to look at her, and she ran a hand through his hair. “You’ll never be old to me, Daddy.”

  And of course Gray melted. He might be governor of Tennessee, but he was no match for this particular five-year-old. “You hit my soft spot, Maddie lady.”

  She giggled. “I know.”

  Mack smiled and grabbed Maddie’s hand. “Come on. We’ve got to get you ready for school, or you’re going to be late on your first day.”

  Gray picked up Lola and handed her over. “Go get spiffy, Maddie lady.”

  He smiled and took a sip of coffee as he listened to her bouncing through the halls.

  “I’m ready, Daddy!” Maddie pranced out the back door and ran to the open door of Gray’s black Escalade. But Mack gave him that look and shook her head slightly, her eyes pleading.

  “Maddie lady, how about we take Mommy’s car today since school is just right up the street.” He said it loudly enough for his staff and the highway patrol officers who served as security at the mansion to know what his plans were. As long as his whereabouts were known and he could be reached immediately, it was okay if he went without a driver.

  “But why?” Maddie’s whine added extra syllables to her words.

  “Because Mommy and I want this to be our day. Just us.”

  “And Lola,” she reminded.

  “Of course. Lulu.”

  “Daddy!”

  He laughed and took her hand as they headed into the garage. “I mean Lola is welcome.”

  Mack was already in the passenger seat of her white Volvo SUV when he got in. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  He reached across the middle console and took her hand. She pulled his hand up to her lips, kissed it lightly, and looked back at Maddie, who was perched on her booster seat. “Hook your seat belt.”

  Maddie protested. “Mommy, I don’t want to wrinkle my new outfit.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, but that isn’t an option. We always wear our seat belts. It’s the law.”

  “Uh-uh. You sometimes don’t when you don’t want to wrinkle your outfit.”

  Gray gave Mack a sideways glance. He knew she had done it, and she knew he knew. But she wasn’t about to let Maddie have this one. “Well, if Mommy has done that—” she emphasized the has—“then she was very bad. And she won’t do it anymore. So hook your seat belt.”

  A deep and loud sigh came from the backseat as he started the car.

  Maddie’s new school was only a mile down the road from the mansion—the neighborhood elementary. Gray had wanted to send Maddie to a public school as a sign of his faith in public education, and Mackenzie had agreed once she had checked this one out thoroughly. And thorough she had been. She’d come home with details on everything from the teachers’ training to the lunch offerings to the school uniforms. Today all that would become part of Maddie’s daily life. Gray had all the confidence in the world that she would do fine, but he still had to swallow hard as she climbed down from the SUV, clutching Lola in a tight little fist.

  Mack knelt beside her, the back door still open. “Baby girl, Lola is going to have to spend the day with Mommy.”

  A look of utter disbelief swept across Maddie’s face about the time her bottom lip started to quiver. “Hey, hey now.” Mack took her arms. “This is your big day, remember. You’re a big girl now, and Lola isn’t quite big enough yet to go to school with you. But Mommy will take good care of her, and when she gets to be a big girl like you, then we’ll think about taking her to school too.”

  The pool of tears had already settled in the bottom of Maddie’s eyes. “You’ll take her everywhere?” Her voice quivered.

  Mack nodded solemnly. “I’ll take her everywhere.” If he knew Mack, by nightfall there would be a full report on the adventures of Lola.

  “She gets hungry for cookies after lunch.”

  Tears now welled in Mack’s eyes too—or so Gray thought. But it was hard to tell because his own vision was a little blurry.

  “Cookies after lunch for sure.” Mack held out her hand and waited patiently until Lola was in it. Then she put the doll in the car and closed the door. “I’ll take perfect care of her.” And with that they headed into the schoolhouse.

  When Gray finally went to pull Mack from the classroom, he found Maddie engaged in dialogue with two little girls, oblivious to the fact her parents were even still there. He watched her for a long minute, then took Mack’s hand and headed back to the car
. When he opened the door to let Mack inside, Lola sat staring at them.

  Mack and Lola cried all the way home. Gray had to change his suit when they returned to the house. Syrup it could handle. Mascara not so much.

  Chapter 6

  Mackenzie didn’t think of herself as a covetous person. But the five miles of gorgeous chocolate leg swinging under the hem of Jessica Ryan’s khaki pencil skirt made her reconsider. She would pay her for just two inches of those legs. She had even told Gray that if plastic surgeons ever offered leg stretching, that was the surgery she’d pay for. She figured if she could have a greater area of distribution, then all the sweet tea she liked to drink wouldn’t be an issue and she wouldn’t have had to switch to unsweetened.

  Her mother told her she was buying into Hollywood voodoo by believing sugar wasn’t good for you. She would pat her thighs and say, “Your daddy loved these. And it was sugar and Crisco that got them here. Worked out pretty good for me, then, wouldn’t you say?”

  How could you argue with that? But Mackenzie still coveted those legs.

  “We’ve had a change in the schedule for today, Mrs. London.” Jessica placed the pink and white folder next to Mackenzie’s place on the kitchen island.

  This was what they did every morning. Jessica reminded Mackenzie of all her commitments, and Mackenzie fulfilled them. Enjoyed most of them. Tolerated a few of them. And almost always looked forward to the end of the day and having dinner with her family. Whenever Gray’s schedule allowed, it would be all three of them. But even when Gray couldn’t be there, she and Maddie would eat together, then curl up on the sofa to read a book and dip Rosa’s oatmeal raisin cookies into a glass of milk.

  Right now, though, it was a long time until dinner. And Jessica meant nothing but business.

  “Want some chocolate gravy and biscuits?” Mackenzie asked her assistant, slowly putting another forkful in her mouth and watching Jessica’s reaction.