When I went inside and mentioned the idea to Violet, she rolled her eyes. “What do you know about driving a pickup?”

“What’s there to know? It drives like a car.”

She dismissed me with a wave. “It’s bigger than a car. You could run something over.”

Something rose up in my chest and overflowed into my head, filling me with an overwhelming urge to stand up for myself. “You know this isn’t the last time we’re gonna need a truck. I’ll buy one and put the business name on the side. It will be like free advertising.” The more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it, despite the fact that it would mean spending even more money on the nursery. I’d already invested so many hundreds of thousands of dollars that I couldn’t think about it without hyperventilating.

“You don’t know the first thing about buying a truck.”

“You’re buying a truck?” Mason asked, coming through the doorway at just that moment.

I turned around and smiled. After not seeing him for weeks, I’d seen plenty of him in the last couple of days. “I’m considering it.”

Violet rolled her eyes. “Mr. Deveraux, tell her what a ridiculous idea it is.”

Mason kept his eyes on me, a teasing glint in them. “I don’t know. I can see you driving a truck. A shotgun in the window for when you get into trouble.” He winked.

Violet’s eyes widened.

“Driving a truck isn’t hard. It’s just bigger and higher up,” Mason added.

“She doesn’t know the first thing about buying a car,” Violet laughed, taking a new angle. “Or a truck, as the case might be. She thinks she’s just going to waltz in there and negotiate a deal.”

Why was she trying to make me look like a fool? And why was I just now seeing what she was doing? This was far from the first time she’d pulled a stunt like this, and it had always infuriated Joe to no end. He claimed Violet was jealous of me. I’d always told him the idea was preposterous, but now I wasn’t so sure. Well, starting the nursery might have boosted Violet’s confidence, but it had boosted mine too.

Mason turned an expressionless gaze on Violet. “I’m sure Rose is capable of doing anything she sets her mind to.”

Violet wasn’t sure what to say to that, and I took the opportunity to change the subject. “Is there anything we can help you with, Mason?”

He turned his full attention to me, practically ignoring Violet. “Actually, my mother is coming to visit this weekend, and I wanted to get her a gift, so I thought about your shop. I remembered you sold indoor plants. She’s always trying to grow something, despite her black thumb. I thought you might be able to recommend a plant that will take her longer to kill.”

I laughed. “Flowering or non-flowering?”

His eyes widened. “Uh…” A strange look crossed his face. “We’d better stick to non-flowering.”

“Okay. Does her house have a lot of light?”

“Not particularly. She lives in an older house in Hillcrest. Lots of older trees and shade.”

I walked to the back corner of the store where we kept a variety of indoor plants. “Hillcrest. That’s one of the historic neighborhoods in Little Rock, right?” Joe had driven us through it on one of my visits to see him.

“Yeah.”

“So you grew up there, then?”

He smiled. “I did.”

“Does your mother have any pets? Any grandkids?”

Wariness washed over his face.

What was the deal with the men in my life and their secretiveness? “I’m not pryin’. I need to know for the plant. Some are poisonous to pets and children. If that’s an issue, we obviously want to stay away from those.”

“Oh. None of either.”

“Then there are several plants you can choose from that like low light and are fairly hearty. One is a dieffenbachia.” My fingertips brushed the thick dark green and yellowish leaves. “They can get to be quite tall. Or if you want something smaller and even hardier, you could go with a zeezee plant.” I pointed to a plant that looked like a small bush. “They’re also called eternity plants since they’re considered nearly impossible to kill.”

Mason pointed to the latter. “Definitely that one.”

“That was easy.”

“I’m not that difficult to please. Contrary to what you might have thought after our first encounters.”

I smiled up at him. “I’m glad you loosened up. I thought we were going to be friends.”

His smile fell. “I told you that I regret the agreement I made with Joe. Have you talked to him? Does he know I’m no longer avoiding you?”

I squirmed. “We talked about it briefly before he left yesterday. He’s on an undercover assignment, and I can’t talk to him right now.”

Mason’s mouth pursed.

I had a feeling he wasn’t telling me something, but pressing for more information was pointless. “Thanks for backing me up with Violet,” I said in an undertone. “Sometimes she…”

“Acts like an older sister?” He teased, his earlier playfulness returning.

“Yeah.”

“For what it’s worth, I think getting a truck is a great idea. Do you have much car shopping experience?”

“No, but I’ve considered trading the Nova in for a newer used car.”

“If you’re worried about getting a good deal, feel free to take me along. There’s nothing as intimidating to a car salesman as negotiating with the assistant district attorney.”