Author/Uploaded by Joy Callaway
Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication Contents 
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Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Epilogue Author’s Note Discussion Questions Acknowledgments About the Author Praise for Joy Callaway Also by Joy Callaway Copyright v vii 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 389 Dedication For my mom, Lynn, the personification of joy and the best gardener in the world For my dad, Fred, the epitome of steadfast love and the ultimate role model in business and compassion For my grandma, Lee, my BFF and keeper and sharer of magical family stories Chapter 1 April 1893 Rye, New York Charles was leaving. At long last. Si longtemps, Charles! Abschied, dearest brother! Tot ziens! I loved him fiercely—more than I loved anyone, really—but I was glad to see him go. Come 11:14 p.m., the rail cars would screech and lurch and he’d wave from the wrought iron caboose railing in his new champagne duster jacket, his fist full of the Bells of Ireland sprigs I’d shove into his hand for good luck. The clouds of his farewell shouts would mingle with thick rail steam in the chilly evening air. By Tuesday he’d be standing 1,300 miles away in the construction shadow of Mr. Flagler’s latest lavish hotel, boots sinking into the veritable beach the structure was built upon. Charles would think, of course, that he’d have no problem whatsoever transforming the barrenness into a lush utopia of viburnums and palms and, most importantly, royal poinciana—a scarlet flowering beauty for which the hotel was named. Never mind that the royal poinciana was native to Madagascar and had never been grown in Florida. Charles had achieved enough success cultivating foreign species from Japan and Germany and Italy and Israel with Father that he would believe the task an easy one. We all did. I hoped he would love Florida. That he’d be so enraptured by the aquamarine sea, the prestige of being Mr. Flagler’s premiere landscape man, and the gorgeous fortune hunters—bless them—that he’d stay. Perhaps he’d even find a suitable girl who wouldn’t mind the oppressive heat akin to that of a boiler room or the way even the finest silks swallowed the humidity and stuck to her limbs as though they’d been bathed in maple sap. Surely a girl of that fortitude could persevere in her pursuit of Charles despite his obsessive love of plants. Charles and I were afflicted with the same curse—a curse that drove me to celebrate his going and that of my younger brother, Freddie, two years ago when he went to work for Uncle Teddy’s friend Mayor Carter Harrison in Chicago. My brothers had been my greatest supporters and my greatest obstructions. Until Mr. Flagler’s offer, I’d thought Charles would succumb to Father’s plan to make him successor and never leave. But Charles had been an adventurer from birth, always wanting the opportunity to travel, to