The Unfinished Garden

James Nealy needs to create a garden...

James Nealy is haunted by irrational fears and inescapable compulsions. A successful software developer, he’s thrown himself into a new goal—to finally conquer the noise in his mind. And he has a plan. He’ll confront
his darkest fears and build something beautiful: a garden. When he meets Tilly Silverberg, he knows she holds the key…even if she doesn’t think so.

After her husband’s death, gardening became Tilly’s livelihood and her salvation. Her thriving North Carolina business and her young son, Isaac, are the excuses she needs to hide from the world. So when oddly attractive, incredibly tenacious James demands that she take him on as a client, her answer is a flat no.

When a family emergency lures Tilly back to England, she’s secretly glad. With Isaac in tow, she retreats to her childhood village, which has always stayed obligingly the same. Until now. Her best friend is keeping secrets. Her mother is plotting. Her first love is unexpectedly, temptingly available. And then James appears on her doorstep.

Away from home, James and Tilly forge an unlikely bond, tenuous at first but taking root every day. And as they work to build a garden together, something begins to blossom between them—despite all the reasons
against it.

"My Story" by Barbara Claypole White

I grew up in rural England dreaming of becoming a novelist, but my life took several detours. Despite a degree in history—mostly medieval—I landed a job promoting London fashion. One day I flew to New York, and fell in love at JFK Airport.

Eighteen months later, I was a faculty spouse and a freelance writer in a small Midwest college town. I started a novel and made big career plans, which lost out to a soul-sucking marketing position that paid bills.

After six years, we moved to the North Carolina forest, where I became a stay-at-home mom and a gardener. All three factors would shape my writing voice. I returned to my manuscript but hit another detour: my son developed obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Years of hard work allowed us to reclaim his life from OCD, and he discovered his gift as an award-winning poet. I ditched my first novel and began writing love stories about damaged people. I’m constantly drawn
to the theme that those who need each other find each other.

I also set a reasonable goal—to snag a publishing deal before my fiftieth birthday—and made it with two months to spare.