A Dozen Dates by Missy Mitchell Read Free Book Online Page B

after her.
    “Why’s that?” she called back at him while still walking away, although she just knew she shouldn’t tempt him.
    “Because you have a huge shovel and you’re good at digging holes for yourself!” Michael claimed, but Gemma just made a rude hand gesture at him which she emphasised with her spade.
    “Oooh..!” Michael winced, and then he offered, “Do you need a hand?”
    “No, I’m fine...” she assured him, rolling her eyes.
    Gemma walked around the yard and took into account the existing plant life and features. Really, it looked as though the previous owners had no real knowledge of scaping, and rather just sporadically planted random vegetation that they personally liked. There was a Native out the front aside a climbing rose – which had nothing to climb on. She dug up a little of the soil with her spade and squashed it to dust between her fingers – it was a bit dry. She would need to supplement it if they hoped to have any chance of a healthy garden. Over at the first side fence was a Bird of Paradise alongside a conifer... The soil in the back yard seemed to be in not too bad a condition... There was that mangy looking palm in the corner of the back yard and the Eucalypt which was cut into an abomination, and some overgrown mint around the other side under the tap. The whole yard was just mishmash. Gemma took all the measurements she could, and then decided that she really needed to take the boys for a walk around the yard and talk to them about some issues which were presenting themselves.
    “What’s happening with the driveway?” Gemma asked, looking at the tyre tracks through the sparse gravel.
    “Well, we thought we would get exposed aggregate put down...” Michael told her.
    “And are you planning on having a path to the front door?” Gemma continued.
    “Yes,” Michael answered.
    “When are you looking at that happening? I need to know so I can plan my schedule around it.”
    “Probably in about two weeks,” Nathan said.
    “That would be good... That still leaves me time to build the gardens and get the plants established...” Gemma told them confidently. “And are the fences staying where they are?” she asked, looking at the rickety structure.
    “Well, no, we were actually going to remove the front fence all together and put in a couple of side fences level with the front of the house.” Michael informed her.
    “Also, I’m going to need to topsoil this whole front before we fix the lawn, and the garden will need new soil as well,” Gemma said.
    They walked around the side, and Gemma continued with her assault on the brothers’ minds. “This would be a good spot for the clothesline...” she stated and they looked at her confused. “Well, you weren’t going to keep that rusted out Hills Hoist that’s in the back were you?”
    “I guess not,” confirmed Nathan. They were both taken aback by the authority in her voice – in her profession she was confident and they could tell she would fare well when dealing with future clients.
    “This tree, here, has been abused and lopped in all the wrong places,” said Gemma, patting the tired looking Eucalypt along the back fence line. It has to go... Actually, most of these plants have to go, but I will need help with this one. You will have to either call in a professional; else you can attempt it yourselves, but being that it is next to a fence...”
    “We’ll do it!” the brothers answered together, smiling.
    “Okay...” Gemma conceded, smiling at their adventurous enthusiasm.
    “Now the back patio..?” Gemma asked.
    “Exposed aggregate like the driveway...” claimed Michael.
    “Okay... Well, I’m just going to take a few more measurements... of the drive way, and clothes line area, etcetera... Then I will start working on a design.” Gemma smiled, “Tropical is okay, isn’t it? I thought, with having the pool and being so close to the beach... And it’s low maintenance.”
    “Tropical is