LITMIR.BIZ

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Al Capone. The mansion had gone through several more owners since the 1930s, after the federal government claimed the property as payment for Flanagan’s tax evasion.

      One wing of the huge old home had been turned into a bed-and-breakfast by the current owner, Benjamin Phillips. The Phillips family lived in Chicago and used Flanagan Manor as their “summer cottage.” Apparently, the bed-and-breakfast paid for the estate’s upkeep. Heather had met the owner, of course, but the family wasn’t currently in residence.

      The main building itself was a showpiece, a gorgeous historic greystone with a portico lakeside and a porte cochère at the side entry, so passengers could alight from their vehicles heedless of inclement weather. Close to the mansion at the top of a gentle incline sat a stone terrace with some plants in large containers and a faux Italian fountain that didn’t work anymore. An old two-story coach house that mimicked the mansion sat directly behind it. The huge expanse of grass fronting the lake tumbled down to a few modest dunes and a small beach. The rest of the shore on both sides of the mansion was lined with boulders, and to the south, a weathered boathouse was attached to a decrepit dock that jutted out into the lake. Once the site where illegal Canadian booze had been unloaded, the dock and boathouse no longer seemed to be in use.

      Heather had no idea what the Phillips family intended to do with them in the future.

      Her focus was on the surrounding nature.

      Heather had been chosen to design and supervise renovation of the grounds, which would include reintroducing native plants to support not only stormwater containment, to keep the runoff from the lake, but also a balanced ecosystem. Many insects needed a specific plant for food. And those insects were food for small animals and birds. The landscaping would be both practical and beautiful, and she was thrilled that her work would be enjoyed for decades to come by myriad guests and visitors and the owner and his family.

      Parking in back of the mansion alongside other service vehicles, she grabbed her portfolio with the design plans she was still working on, then left the SUV. The long, narrow lot along the north side of the building was reserved for guests, but today there were only a few cars. It had probably been full for Memorial Day weekend, but kids weren’t out of school yet, and the tourist season hadn’t geared up. The perfect time to get started.

      Looking for her team, she headed across the south lawn, passing the century-old, glass-paneled conservatory on the southeast end of the mansion. Having had a quick tour of the inside, she knew that it wasn’t being used to its full potential. No plant aficionado in the family. Mr. Phillips had suggested he might want her to renovate it. No promises, but the prospect excited Heather.

      To her relief, Tyrone and Amber were busy at work on the gently rolling dunes near the shoreline, loading the invasive plants they’d removed into a wheelbarrow. About to call out to them, she stopped when she realized they would never hear her over the combined racket made by hip-hop music coming from a boom box on the beach and the roar of a nearby lawnmower.

      Wait a minute! Why was anyone other than her team doing anything with the lawn? Mr. Phillips had told her to set the boundaries for EPI, so any groundskeeper should have checked with her first.

      Glancing back, Heather noted a giant lawnmower was eating up the south lawn at an amazing speed. The man riding the machine was pretty amazing, too. From the length of his leg, she’d guess he must be at least six feet tall. He had a sculpted body—she could appreciate the muscles all too obvious beneath the thin, white T-shirt—and undoubtedly sculpted features beneath a shock of dark-brown hair streaked with gray. Or so she assumed from his jawline. The rest of his face was pretty well-hidden behind mirrored sunglasses.

      She’d never seen him before...but then she hadn’t been introduced to anyone who worked on the estate other than Cora, the housekeeper, who was in charge of the mansion.

      Though she thought about approaching him to find out exactly who he was, Heather decided that could wait. She felt less in charge wearing an old cap to protect her face from the sun, a practical gray sweatshirt and a pair of jeans loose enough to work in. Not that Mr. Sunglasses intimidated her or anything.

      Her pulse threading a little unevenly, she moved away from man and machine and headed for her team. Tyrone Smith and Amber Miller had both been working for EPI for more than a year, but because neither had gotten any kind of formal education, they did the hard labor, not the design or planning. That was up to her. So, the week before, after she’d met them, they’d all made a trip out to the estate—Tyrone and Amber to deliver the heavy equipment they would need and Heather to go over the plans for the site. She’d made further changes in her designs since and figured she would be refining until the job was complete.

      As Heather approached Tyrone, he looked up. Tall and skinny, he wore his hair in cornrows, and the ends of the braids brushed a too-big T-shirt honoring a dead musician.

      “Hey, Amber, the boss is here!” he yelled. “Better turn down that music!”

      Her light blond hair pulled up into a ponytail, her eyes a soft gray, Amber was probably only eighteen or nineteen, a couple of years younger than Tyrone. Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts and her feet encased in work boots a lot safer than her partner’s tennis shoes, she bent over to shut off the boom box. As the music stopped, the young woman who looked too small to be so strong stopped, too, her hands on her hips like she was waiting for orders.

      Heather might be used to giving orders at the store, but this was different. She had no history here. No real experience. Behind her, the mower noise grew louder, and she glanced back to see Mr. Sunglasses riding over grass he’d already cut. That wasn’t good. And how low had he set that mower? Grass should be cut no shorter than two inches. At least not if you wanted it to live.

      Was this something else she needed to take care of?

      Okay, she had to admit it. The thought of giving him orders intimidated her just a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

      Forcing a smile, she turned back to her workers. “Looks like you got a lot done.”

      “Well, we’ve been working since eight,” Amber said.

      Heather’s face grew warm, but she chose not to make excuses. “When you’ve finished with the beach area, we should start removing sod for the rain gardens.”

      She’d planned on two freeform rain gardens on the mansion’s lake-facing side, leaving room for a wide, stone pathway down to the beach between them.

      “Retaining wall or no?” Tyrone asked.

      Something she’d been undecided on the week before.

      Heather nodded. “The slope is gentle enough, so we can install twelve or fifteen inches.” If the slope were steeper, a big storm could wash away a taller retaining wall, but a small one should do well. “That way, we can create flat areas with a shallow bowl for the new plantings.”

      “How much of the lawn are we going to remove?” Amber asked.

      Considering the estate grounds were nearly an acre, equivalent to the size of a football field, and knowing her budget, Heather said, “Not as much as I would like, but it’ll be a great start. We have four areas of concentration. In addition to this beach area and the rain gardens, we’ll plant a prairie with native grasses mixed with flowering plants as a backdrop over there.” She indicated the south end of the grounds. “And then an expanded garden starting from the terrace, with another seating area at the other end, then here, around the buildings. All that will require more lawn removal. The rest of the lawn will remain, at least for this year.”

      “There’s not going to be much left if The Terminator keeps going,” Amber said, looking beyond her.

      “The Terminator?” Heather turned to see the man mowing the same section for a third time.

      “He’s killing that grass,” Tyrone said. “Are you sure the owners want any left?”

      Heather sighed. “I’m sure.” She’d actually had to scale back her plan a bit due to their budget. New plantings weren’t inexpensive, especially for an estate of this size,

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