As much as Sadie wanted to linger in the city, she feared the plants would be damaged by the cooler weather, and Dr. Carter would be annoyed.

Sadie drove them back to Woodmont and then backed the truck down to the greenhouse. It took Sadie a good half hour to unload and carry all the plants inside the warm, moist air of the greenhouse.

As she carried the last spiky green plant into the greenhouse and set it in the corner, she was grateful to be out of the cold. She looked up at the greenhouse’s domed roof, marveling at the way it caught the afternoon light. As pretty as this place was, it felt confining.

Miss Olivia regarded her plants as if they were precious children. “Can you move that last one a little to the right?”

Sadie dragged the pot five inches toward her and stood back. It was going to take more than a few inches to help this plant.

“It’s really very stunning,” Miss Olivia said.

“Yes, ma’am, if you say so.”

Miss Olivia frowned. “You don’t like the plants?”

“No offense, Miss Olivia, but I don’t see the point of these plants. They don’t look like you’d eat them.”

“No, of course not. They’re all Leucospermums.”

“What?”

“Shrubs that remain green all year, and then for a brief time they flower.”

“These things are going to make a flower?”

“They will indeed. They’re designed to be lovely and interesting.” Miss Olivia walked up and inspected a flat spiny leaf. “Edward had them brought in from Richmond. A friend of his has an English garden. He’s not one to sell his plants, and Edward said he had to be very persuasive to convince him to sell him these.”

“If you say so, miss.”

“The plant comes with its own story, you know,” Miss Olivia said. “Do you want to hear it?”

Sadie shrugged, doubting a story would help the look of this plant. “Sure, I could use a good story.”

Miss Olivia walked around the plant. “The man who gifted them to Edward is of British descent. He had a great-great-great-grandfather who sailed the seas as a young man for the British navy. In the 1780s his ship came upon a Dutch vessel that was sailing out of Cape Town, South Africa. They of course boarded the ship and took the cargo from the crew.”

The idea of traveling far caught her attention. “Why would they do something like that?”

“Britain was at war with the Dutch.”

“Why?”

“Because the Dutch were helping the American colonists with their little war of independence.”

Sadie placed her hand on her hip, feeling like she needed to stick up for her country. “Couldn’t have been so little. We won, and now we’re back in Europe helping you out of a scrap.”

Miss Olivia’s lips curled into a slight smile. “You are right about that.”

Sadie studied the plants again, trying to find something pretty about them but still unable to see much beyond spikes and hard angles. “Was this plant on the ship?”

“No. One of the Dutch crewmen had collected seeds near Cape Town. And when the British took control of the ship, they took all the Dutch sailors’ belongings, including these seeds. When one of the Brits returned home, he planted them. This plant is a descendant of those seeds.”

“Figures a handful of seeds would have traveled farther than me.”

“You are young; you will travel one day, Sadie.”

“That is my plan. I want to see California and New York City.”

“You are a bright girl. I have no doubt you will see both.”

Sadie squared back her shoulders a fraction. “Seems to me if you are going to go to all the trouble of growing an old seed, then you should at least be able to eat it. What’s the good of a plant that doesn’t do anything of real importance?”

“It has a role. It’s lovely.”

Sadie shook her head as she looked outside at the still-bare trees. “Yes, ma’am, if you say so.”

“You don’t approve,” Miss Olivia said.

“Not my place, ma’am. I do love looking at the starlets in the magazines, because they are pretty. But I wouldn’t go so far as to think I could ever wear anything so beautiful. Just isn’t practical.”

“Does something always have to be practical?”

“For me, it does. Everything in our life, including the plants in Mama’s garden, are of use. All we have are carrots, potatoes, snap peas, and squash. It’s all got to fill our belly.”

“Don’t you have any flowers?”

“Well, we do have the honeysuckle bushes around the house, and they do smell nice. But as soon as they bloom, I pick the flowers so I can make them into the syrup to flavor the moonshine. The honeysuckle flavor is our most popular.”

“Edward enjoys it, but I’ve never tried it.”

“Well then, I’ll caution you to be careful. It’s mighty strong.”

Miss Olivia raised her chin. “You don’t think I can handle it?”

“I’m sure you could. I’m just saying it’ll take getting used to. Don’t go guzzling it like one of those fancy lady drinks.”

“You’ve drunk it?”

“Well, no. I taste the honeysuckle syrup, and then when it’s mixed, Ma does the final tasting. But it’s a matter of time before I’ll be doing the final tasting.”

“Aren’t you worried about the law?”

“I suppose. But I know all the back roads and old Indian trails, so I’ll be fine as long as I stay out of the sheriff’s way.”

“Why do you take the risk?”

“Money’s got to come from somewhere. Kind of like when you were trapped in that building. The only choice you had was to figure a way out. That’s what I’m doing with the moonshine. Figuring a way out of a tight spot.”

Miss Olivia stared at her a long moment. “I do admire you, Sadie.”

Color warmed her cheeks. “Why? I’m just a poor girl from the country.”

“You are brave. And I respect that.”

“I’d say you were pretty brave.”

“I had no choice, and now I have fled my country when it needs me most, and I am hiding out in a glasshouse filled with pretty plants that serve little purpose. That’s hardly brave.”

“I thought you liked this greenhouse?”

“Edward built it for me. He says it’s where I belong. And it’s a good place for me to hide.” Clearing her throat, she turned toward a pot filled with another green fern. “I can’t imagine being all alone and driving your truck at night, running from the law. I’m scared enough as it is.”

Sadie came around and picked up the pot, filled with lavender. “What do you have to be afraid of?”

“Everything,” she said softly. “This new life. Losing another baby. Disappointing Edward.”

Sadie was silent for a moment. “Mama always said if you aren’t a little afraid, then you aren’t living.”

“What are you afraid of?” Miss Olivia challenged.

“Never getting out of Bluestone. Living and dying here, and never getting a chance to see the world.”