The Rose Garden Read Online Free PDF

in front of him.
    Oblivious, he pointed at the folder with his fork. ‘You’ve got the legends of Trelowarth and that sort of rubbish in there, don’t you?’
    Susan passed my plate across for me and, with her own in hand, sat down herself. ‘Of course.’
    ‘Good. So then you can reassure Eva we don’t have a ghost.’
    It was my turn to protest. ‘I never said—’
    ‘Why would she think there’s a ghost?’ Susan asked.
    ‘She’s been hearing men’s voices upstairs.’
    Susan told him, with feeling, ‘I wish.’
    Mark grinned. ‘What, that we had men upstairs?’
    ‘No, stupid. That we had a ghost. Now that would bring the tourists in.’
    Mark told her that depended on the ghost.
    Ignoring him, she asked me what the voices had been saying, and I shrugged.
    ‘I couldn’t hear.’
    Mark said, ‘Perhaps they came to give a warning.’ Imitating a stern, ghostly voice, he went on, ‘Do not build a tearoom at Trelowarth.’
    ‘Do you see?’ asked Susan, looking to me for support. ‘You see the sort of thing I have to deal with.’
    ‘And you love me anyway.’ Her brother’s smile was sure.
    ‘Yes, well, lucky for you that I do. That’s the only thing keeps me from planting you in the back garden alongside your roses.’
    Mark took the threat lightly and turned his attention to me. ‘So then, what are your plans for the day?’
    I said, ‘I don’t know. I suppose I should take care of… what I came for.’
    That sobered the mood. Mark looked down at his plate and went on eating silently, then he said quietly, ‘Do you know where?’
    ‘I was thinking,’ I started, then paused for a moment, collecting myself. ‘I was thinking of up by the Beacon.’ He didn’t react, but I still felt the need to explain, ‘She would want to be somewhere where she had been happy.’
    Mark gave a short nod and said, ‘That’s a good spot then.’ And after a moment, ‘You want me to come with you?’
    He offered that as though it didn’t matter either way, but there was something in his tone that made me ask him, ‘Would you like to?’
    Pushing his half-empty plate away he told me, ‘Yes, I would.’
    I glanced towards the clearing sky. ‘We ought to wait until the sun comes out.’
    ‘Right.’ He hadn’t finished with his coffee, either, but he set that down as well and stood. ‘You let me know, then, when you’re ready.’ And with that he turned away and went to start his work.

Chapter 4
    ‘ He really did love her, didn’t he?’ Susan, standing at the sink to rinse our breakfast dishes, tipped her head to one side in a movement that was half-familiar. ‘I mean, it’s not as though he’s been pining away all these years or anything, and he’s had girlfriends since who were serious, but your sister was special, I think.’
    I pushed at a small bit of egg with my knife. ‘Well, she was his first love,’ I said. ‘At least, that’s what he told her. I know he was hers. And you never forget your first love.’
    ‘I suppose not.’ She frowned. ‘I don’t honestly remember what they were like as a couple, I was only seven. And you and I played together more, really. Katrina and Mark always seemed so much older.’ She was filling the sink now with water and dish soap, and I would have risen to help her if she hadn’t motioned me down again. ‘Sit. You’re a guest.’
    ‘Not that kind of a guest. I can help.’
    ‘No, you can’t,’ she insisted, and from her expression she wouldn’t be budged, so I did as she told me and stayed in my seat at the table while she started washing the cutlery. ‘Who was your first love?’ she asked me, and the question broke the subtle air of sadness that had settled on us; brought the light again into the room.
    I smiled. ‘A boy at my school in Vancouver. He played junior hockey, I spent all my weekends in freezing cold ice rinks.’ Somehow it didn’t have quite the same level of romance as Mark and Katrina. ‘And you?’
    ‘I’m still