The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones Read Free Book Online

amusement. Rosa turned back toward the griddle, her shoulders shaking.
    “Her name’s not Lulu, Daddy. Her name is Lola.” Indignation flashed in her blue eyes. They were complete replicas of his own—as far as he could tell, his only contribution to Maddie. Otherwise she was Mack made over, from her tiny frame to her anything-but-tiny personality. And she was growing up so fast.
    He put his hand over his mouth. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry. I forgot.” He extended his hand toward the doll, who was still flopped on the island near Maddie’s plate. “Lola, please forgive me.”
    “You say that to her every day,” Maddie reminded, hand still firmly planted.
    “I know. But sometimes I need to be forgiven a little every day. Plus, Daddy’s getting old. My memory’s not what it used to be.”
    Maddie walked over to Gray’s barstool. He leaned down to look at her, and she ran a hand through his hair. “You’ll never be old to me, Daddy.”
    And of course Gray melted. He might be governor of Tennessee, but he was no match for this particular five-year-old. “You hit my soft spot, Maddie lady.”
    She giggled. “I know.”
    Mack smiled and grabbed Maddie’s hand. “Come on. We’ve got to get you ready for school, or you’re going to be late on your first day.”
    Gray picked up Lola and handed her over. “Go get spiffy, Maddie lady.”
    He smiled and took a sip of coffee as he listened to her bouncing through the halls.

    “I’m ready, Daddy!” Maddie pranced out the back door and ran to the open door of Gray’s black Escalade. But Mack gave him that look and shook her head slightly, her eyes pleading.
    “Maddie lady, how about we take Mommy’s car today since school is just right up the street.” He said it loudly enough for his staff and the highway patrol officers who served as security at the mansion to know what his plans were. As long as his whereabouts were known and he could be reached immediately, it was okay if he went without a driver.
    “But why?” Maddie’s whine added extra syllables to her words.
    “Because Mommy and I want this to be our day. Just us.”
    “And Lola,” she reminded.
    “Of course. Lulu.”
    “Daddy!”
    He laughed and took her hand as they headed into the garage. “I mean Lola is welcome.”
    Mack was already in the passenger seat of her white Volvo SUV when he got in. “Thank you,” she whispered.
    He reached across the middle console and took her hand. She pulled his hand up to her lips, kissed it lightly, and looked back at Maddie, who was perched on her booster seat. “Hook your seat belt.”
    Maddie protested. “Mommy, I don’t want to wrinkle my new outfit.”
    “Well, I’m sorry, but that isn’t an option. We always wear our seat belts. It’s the law.”
    “Uh-uh. You sometimes don’t when you don’t want to wrinkle your outfit.”
    Gray gave Mack a sideways glance. He knew she had done it, and she knew he knew. But she wasn’t about to let Maddie have this one. “Well, if Mommy has done that—” she emphasized the has —“then she was very bad. And she won’t do it anymore. So hook your seat belt.”
    A deep and loud sigh came from the backseat as he started the car.
    Maddie’s new school was only a mile down the road from the mansion—the neighborhood elementary. Gray had wanted to send Maddie to a public school as a sign of his faith in public education, and Mackenzie had agreed once she had checked this one out thoroughly. And thorough she had been. She’d come home with details on everything from the teachers’ training to the lunch offerings to the school uniforms. Today all that would become part of Maddie’s daily life. Gray had all the confidence in the world that she would do fine, but he still had to swallow hard as she climbed down from the SUV, clutching Lola in a tight little fist.
    Mack knelt beside her, the back door still open. “Baby girl, Lola is going to have to spend the day with Mommy.”
    A look of utter