The Night Gardener

By E. D. Parr

Architect, Dane Lovell takes an off-season vacation in an old New England mansion, hoping to ease his broken heart, and spark his imagination. Impressed by the pretty gardens, he’s surprised by the sinister atmosphere of the river that winds through the estate. Dane tries to immerse himself in his drawings, until the sound of the back door smashing open shocks him from his work.

Spooky, gorgeous, and enigmatic Zachary Yarrow has brought logs for the fire. He’s the estate gardener and brings with him not just passion and a love affair for Dane, but a strange, spine-tingling mystery.

Who is Zachary, and what will happen when Dane finds out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Mar 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781773392028

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Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2017 E.D. Parr

ISBN: 978-1-77339-202-8

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Melissa Hosack

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE NIGHT GARDENER

E.D. Parr

Copyright © 2017

Chapter One

Here are the keys, Mr. Lovell. Once I leave tomorrow morning you’ll have the estate to yourself. I’ll lock and shutter the big house, but the grounds are yours to enjoy. There’s a decent fishing rod in the cottage garden shed, if you fish. The river is famous for trout. Jackson Montgomery placed a sizeable bunch of keys in Dane’s palm with a smile. You still have my phone number, just in case, eh? Janice stocked the larder and fridge for you? He glanced around the big kitchen as if he could see into the larder and fridge to assess the contents. Cottage was a misnomer for the place Dane Lovell had rented for the next eight weeks. With two floors and a cellar, plus the fact it stretched the length of just about three ordinary family houses, Dane considered the old place a mansion.

Yes, thanks. She showed me everything and it’ll probably take me my whole stay to get through the supplies. He smiled as he followed the caretaker out of the back door and onto the patio.

Jackson turned to him and held out his hand.

Dane shook his hand in goodbye. Thanks for everything.

The caretaker gave a nod and was gone, marching along the short, crazy-paved path to the side gate, where with another glance over his shoulder at Dane, he went through it to the neighboring and smaller cottage that was his home.

Dane pushed his hands into his jeans pockets and wandered to the bottom of the garden that adjoined the cottage. He breathed in the cool, reinvigorating air emitted by a thicket of evergreen trees as he took the path that wove through them and led him to the bend in the river rushing past.

His cell phone buzzed in the pocket of his denim gilet.

Lovell. He stopped walking to answer.

Dane, where the hell are you? What happened to our meeting? His brother’s voice held both annoyance and anxiety.

Sorry, Emmet, I took off earlier than I expected. I did leave you a message, at your office. Didn’t you get it?

Rosie strikes again. I swear I’ll never have another temp from that agency. Okay, well, have a good break. Keep in touch. I guess planning a new project can wait until you’ve recharged your batteries for a few weeks. I wish you’d not gone quite so far away, though, Dane—New England…

Dane caught the change in his brother’s tone and knew he must be smiling.

I needed a total change after the incident with Jeremy. It’s been months and I’m still not over it, but thanks, Emmet, I’ll try to have a good break. He ended the call as he gazed into the flow of water where the weak sun threw its light. Square sparkles dashed by on the water looking like little windows into the river. Dane walked closer to the edge of the bank and watched for a few moments. Immediately below, long slender reeds swayed in huge tangled bunches. Dane turned and walked back to the cottage, hunger forcing him away from the mesmerizing sight.

He’d not eaten since the day before. Dane never ate before late afternoon. In fact, he was never usually out and about until midafternoon. He worked far into the night and usually fell into bed around dawn. Somehow, over the years, this had become his normal pattern of living—Dane was nocturnal. Meetings, such as the one he was to have with Emmet, posed a problem. Although his brother always accommodated him, other people usually wanted them in the morning. On those occasions, Dane forced himself out of slumber and took a cab to the venue, not trusting his sleepy head to drive. Sometimes Dane tried to change this nocturnal pattern, but it never worked. The blanket of night offered him comfort.

He entered the kitchen and made straight for the fridge. Janice, the caretaker’s wife, had left a large roasted chicken for him. He brought it to the table and pulled a loaf of crusty bread from the breadbox on the counter. Dane