Heather Webber - Digging Up Trouble

Okay, I didn’t care who Josh Drake was. I just needed him to get off the phone so those lips could press other places.

“Sorry, I think you have the wrong number.”

“I don’t think so,” the man said.

I wasn’t in the mood to argue the point. “Can I call you back?”

240

Heather Webber

“Actually, I’m looking for Bobby. Is he there? Because he’s not answering his phone. It’s important.”

Josh . . . Oh, Josh Drake! Bobby’s cousin—the lawyer.

I looked over my shoulder, at the naked man in bed with me. “For you.”

“Now?” He grumbled about lousy timing.

“Apparently. It’s Josh.”

Bobby leaned up on his elbow, took the phone. It was my turn to distract him. Fair’s fair. Besides, it was fun.

“Uh-huh,” Bobby said, unable to take his eyes off me.

I could hear Josh talking a mile a minute, but I couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying.

“Yeah, I promise,” Bobby rushed to say. “Whatever you need, Josh, I’ll do. I’ll call you tomorrow for the details.”

The phone landed on the floor amidst the pile of hastily discarded clothing.

Bobby pulled me close to him. “Where were we?”

“What did you just promise him?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” he said, leaning down to kiss me.

“Right then and there, I didn’t care either.

If we’d only known.

Take Your Garden by Surprise

by Nina Quinn

Creating habitats for hummingbirds, or hummers, isn’t only a rewarding gardening experience, but it can provide hours of enjoyment watching these amazing colorful creatures that average less than four inches long in size.

To build just the right environment, you need to keep in mind what hummers need most. Food, water, shelter. Providing extras such as shade in the summer, protection in the winter, places to hide, perches to rest, and space to flutter free of worries, will increase your chances of drawing hummingbirds to your yard.

Although hummingbirds are naturally attracted to the color red, they will be drawn to any nectar-rich plant, as nectar is their primary food source. Therefore it’s important to choose the right varieties of flowers, shrubs, and trees for your hummingbird garden. Below are some good choices.

Annuals : impatiens, begonias, petunias, red salvia, geraniums, scarlet sage, penstemons, four o’clocks, velvet trumpet flowers, phlox, nasturtiums, zinnias.

Perennials : columbine, hollyhock, bee balm, trumpet honeysuckle, hosta, coral bells, cardinal flower, foxglove, dragonflower, monarda, aster, perennial salvia, verbena, 242

Take Your Garden by Surprise cosmos, dahlias, delphiniums, flame acanthus, fuchsia, lu-pines, monkeyflower, sage, scarlet sage, butterfly weed.

Vines : trumpet creeper, trumpet vine, scarlet morning glory, bougainvillea, cardinal climber, flame vine, lantana.

Shrubs : Fuchsia, azalea, butterfly bush, abelia, bottlebrush, hibiscus, lilac, weigela.

Trees : mimosa silk tree, crab apple, willows, tulip poplar, locust, eucalyptus.

Research is a must. Not only to check to see which plants will grow in your hardiness zone, but also some varieties (such as phlox, penstemon, four o’clocks) could be annuals in some areas, perennials in others; and some perennials could be shrubs in some zones. Visit your local garden centers—

they can point you in the right direction and might have addi-tional suggestions that will make your hummingbird garden perfect.

Additionally, it’s important to supplement your hummingbird gardens with feeders for the times nectar might run dry. The standard mixture is four parts water, one part re-fined sugar. Be sure to boil the water before mixing to ensure proper measurement and to purify the water so the hummingbirds don’t contract any illnesses. You can also buy ready-made hummingbird food at any bird store and often in your local supermarket pet section. Never add honey to your hummingbird feeder. It can grow a fungus disease that can be fatal to these birds.

Hummers also eat insects and spiders, so be sure never to use pesticides in your hummingbird garden. Pesticides will not only remove an important food source but can also en-danger a hummingbird’s life.

It’s important to keep a mister, dripper, or shallow bird bath near your hummingbird garden so the hummers can bathe and keep hydrated. Did you know hummingbirds drink eight times their body weight a day?

Take Your Garden by Surprise 243

Hummingbirds won’t use houses—they nest in trees—so don’t bother buying one. These birds spend eighty percent of their time resting, so make sure they have perches near their food source. Twigs, branches, fences, clotheslines, or even nearby trees will provide the rest your hummers will need.

Remember to space your plants to accommodate flutter-ing wings, which can beat twenty to two hundred times per second. Research, plant, and sit back and enjoy your hummingbird garden year after year.

Best wishes for happy gardening!

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to my agent, Jacky Sach, for all that you do, and to Sarah Durand, for continuing to believe in Nina . . . and in me.

Great big thanks to Laura Bradford, Shelley Gal-loway, Hilda Lindner-Knepp, Cathy Liggett, and Julie Stone, for being the best writing buddies a girl could have.

About the Author

HEATHER WEBBERwrites mysteries in between running her three children to and from various sporting and school events, actively avoiding housework, and wishing someone would give her backyard a Taken by Surprise makeover.

This native of Massachusetts was uprooted and transplanted to a little cranny of southwest Ohio shortly after marrying her high school sweetheart.

She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.heatherwebber.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Nina Quinn Mysteries

by Heather Webber

Digging up Trouble

Trouble in Spades

A Hoe Lot of Trouble

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DIGGING UP TROUBLE. Copyright © 2006 by Heather Webber. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader October 2007

ISBN 978-0-06-156002-6

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