Gardens of Eden: Everyday Goddesses, #6

By Faith O'Shea

Inanna Rusnik is the fourth generation to till the soil and plant wildflowers at Gardens of Eden, the small town's nursery. She wants nothing more than to continue the legacy by finding the right man to grow a family with, and she hasn't been shy about looking. When she's sidelined by an unforeseen development, she begins to see the world through a new lens, finding delight in the everyday tasks that have always given her life color and texture.

Tihomir Lukić has been working at the nursery for years, at first, helping unravel the mess Ina was left with, and now guiding her through another crisis, one that's becoming more complicated by the day. Attracted to her like his bees to honey since the day she'd hired him, he wouldn't mind being at her beck and call if he thought it could go somewhere, but he knows she's biding her time until she can pick up where she left off.

With each passing hour Ina spends with Ti, hidden feelings rush to the surface and fantasies begin to spring to life, as lush as her perennials after a spring rain. He's a man who wears nature like a second skin and is gorgeous to boot. She wants to entangle their roots and let love blossom, but he knows everything about her past. How can she convince him he's the one she's been looking for all along?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Faith O'Shea
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734733709

Book preview

Gardens of Eden

Inanna Rusnik is the fourth generation to till the soil and plant wildflowers at Gardens of Eden, the small town’s nursery. She wants nothing more than to continue the legacy by finding the right man to grow a family with, and she hasn’t been shy about looking. When she’s sidelined by an unforeseen development, she begins to see the world through a new lens, finding delight in the everyday tasks that have always given her life color and texture.

Tihomir Lukić has been working at the nursery for years, at first, helping unravel the mess Ina was left with, and now guiding her through another crisis, one that’s becoming more complicated by the day. Attracted to her like his bees to honey since the day she’d hired him, he wouldn’t mind being at her beck and call if he thought it could go somewhere, but he knows she’s biding her time until she can pick up where she left off.

With each passing hour Ina spends with Ti, hidden feelings rush to the surface and fantasies begin to spring to life, as lush as her perennials after a spring rain. He’s a man who wears nature like a second skin and is gorgeous to boot. She wants to entangle their roots and let love blossom, but he knows everything about her past. How can she convince him he’s the one she’s been looking for all along?

Praise for Faith O’Shea

Faith O’Shea is a contemporary women’s literature writer who loves writing about romance, magic, conviction, and loyalty, with strong women and the friendships they build. She has created many series of stories to make us laugh, cry and feel empowered and writes in a voice that speaks to women of all ages. Faith believed there were subjects and life that needed to be written about. ~ Loyce M.

I truly love the Everyday Goddess series. The strong, leading women characters, in this day and age, are inspiring to me and keep me coming back for more! The books are light, fun, extremely relatable and I can't put them down! ~ Kathryn B.

I just finished the Fire and Ice series. It had romance, strong friendships between the women characters and complex stories that were clearly very well researched. Loved all of them and looking forward to the goddess series next! ~ Gail N.

Oh wow! I just finished reading the Magic Bean Café and I must say that I was hooked from the first chapter and loved every page. The characters were full and believable. The child, Willow, had my heart with her wild imagination, gift of laughter, and the way she melted Aisin’s heart and helped him to realize that you can love a child that wasn’t yours. Thank you for gifting me this awesome read. ~ Your newest fan, Carol F. 💕

Magic Bean Café is a fantastic book of compassion for others with realistic characters. Plus a generous millionaire to help fulfill dreams. ~ Belinda

Everyday Goddesses

An extraordinary café and a circle of magical friends

Magic Bean Café

Rhea Cronun is feeling like Cinderella these days, but still isn’t looking for a prince. When Aisin Leehy strolls into town, he tempts her with more than flowers and candy, but even the fairy in her back yard, hasn’t cast the right spell. What will it take to convince her, he’s exactly the right fit?

Once There Was a Tree

Gwenhwyfar Cronun has lost everything that matters to her, her job, her arm, and her purpose. The ex-army vet is convinced she has no fight left in her, but when her former Captain, Ioan Sayer, moves into town, she quickly reverts back to fighting form. No way is she letting him back in, no matter what he promises. He’s out to soothe her dragon’s fire, but will she let him?

Tipping the Scales

Minerva Holt is picky when it comes to finding a man, although she’d rather call it discerning. She is a judge after all. Although she’s intrigued when Simon Iraklidis parks his food truck outside the courthouse, she’s not willing to lower her standards, not even for his baklava, which is heaven inspired. Will Simon be able to prove he can satisfy more than her sweet tooth?

Can’t Be Tamed

Lilith Varsela has been protecting her heart as fiercely as the women she advocates for and her mantra has become single today, single tomorrow. She doesn’t expect that to ever change but when she lets Niall Graeme back into her life, it’s a whole new day.

Remains to be Seen

Cerridwen Moore knows that a night-light isn’t normal at her age, and checking for fault lines is getting old, but the world took on a different slant the day of the cave-in. So busy holding herself together, she’s had no time for romance and doesn’t dare let anyone in. When Zain Bishara shows up, all smiles and eager to please, she thinks she might take a chance, but he’s been hiding something that threatens the ground beneath her and she isn’t willing to risk another fall. Will he be able to convince her he’s not his brother’s keeper?

Gardens of Eden

Inanna Rusnik has been sowing seeds all her life, and not just in her garden. Colorful blossoms have been pulling her in, and although the scents are delicious, she’s forgotten they’re short-lived. When the bloom finally fades, she sees what’s been in front of her all along. Can she convince her nursery manager, Tihomir Lukic, that it’s time to tangle their roots, entwine their hearts and plant their future?

Gardens of Eden

Everyday Goddesses

Book 6

Faith O’Shea

Copyright 2021 Susan Faith Campbell/Faith O’Shea

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in all form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known of hereinafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in an information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author, Susan Faith Campbell writing as Faith O’Shea at [e-mail]

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design by Jaycee DeLorenzo at Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

Format and Interior Design by Woven Red Author Services, www.wovenRed.ca

Gardens of Eden/Susan Faith Campbell writing as Faith O’Shea- 1st edition

ISBN ebook: 978-1-7347337-0-9

ISBN print book: 978-1-7347337-1-6

To My Readers

This book was kind of a stretch for me. I might love the scent of flowers in the spring, and enjoy the fruits of a harvest, but I certainly don’t have a green thumb when it comes to growing. In fact, I’ve put strict rules in place about giving me plants as gifts. I somehow kill them with kindness every time. (Too much water can do that, from what I hear.)

Inanna is an earth sign, and therefore had to be involved with earthly delights, which is the reason I chose for her to own a nursery. Or she chose, all depending on how you look at how a book is written. Tihomir grew in stature and dimension with each page, and I was astounded at the kinds of things he excelled in, beekeeping only one of them.

For this book, I read all I could about nurseries, different shrubs, trees, and greenery, and learned a lot, but still relied heavily on my friend Bunnie’s, input. She owned a farm once, loves puttering around with her garden, and she even offered to come and help me build a butterfly garden this spring. She was the one who sent me the article about John Ogonowski, a farmer who mentored immigrants through the sustainable farming project, the project mentioned in this book. He was one of the pilots killed on 9/11 and I thought it would be another way to commemorate the kindness he showed to others.

Ina’s story is not one based on a cave-in, or a coffee shop, or a lost limb. Hers is more an inner journey than her counterparts, one I think many of us take at least once in our lifetime. I hope you find it an enjoyable one.

Faith

CHAPTER ONE

Inanna Rusnik stood, her hand on her extended belly, trying to get the kinks out. Being six months pregnant, it wasn’t as easy to bend and weed as it used to be. She’d been thrilled when she’d found out she was carrying a child, after those first few days of shock, but she didn’t realize at the time it would feel like it was a never-ending gestation period and she still had three more months to grow.

Growing was her thing, had been as far back as she could remember. Gardens of Eden, the local nursery, had been in her family for generations, handed down from mother to daughter since it was opened in 1930. It wasn’t something she truly appreciated until the last circle she’d attended with her tribe, a group of nine women who met once a month to recharge their spirits. Qadesh Bishara had joined them that night, and the woman was famous for her work in the field of Women’s Studies with a little Jungian psychology thrown in. In lieu of a ritual, Qadesh asked the group to think back on a member of their matriarchal line who had imbued them with some trait or quality that had influenced their chosen profession. Ina had immediately thought of her great-grandmother, a true legend in her family, a woman of great resolve and temerity. She’d immigrated from Hungary and opened the nursery within in a year of settling in Eden as a means of supporting herself and her husband, who couldn’t find work in the small town. From stories handed down, she’d learned Erzsébet had chosen Eden, more for the name than for the location. She’d liked thinking she’d found an earthly paradise where she could raise a family in peace. The Hungarian government had been taking radical steps against the Jewish population, and the Rachmens refused to wait around to see what happened. It didn’t matter that the economy was as crippled in her new homeland as in her old, the Depression clawing deep. She wasn’t looking for riches, she was looking for safety. Not one to sit around and wait for destiny to find her, she’d scraped together their meager savings and bought a ten-acre parcel of land in a rural setting where there was fresh air and few houses. She didn’t realize it at the time, but she was about to build that paradise with her own two hands, adding ten more acres before she was done. While she was deciding types and quantity of plants to be grown, busy purchasing seeds, and using her green thumb’s magic to create a wonderland, Matyas, Ina’s great-grandfather, was building the house where they would live. The country house was still standing, had seen a few additions, with a front porch and two-car garage, had sheltered four generations of gardeners, and it was where Ina lived today. She’d grown up here, had played among the flowers that bloomed in the garden, had cultivated her own small patch of land when she was five, planting bulbs and herbs and anything else her mother would let her. Nothing had changed in all those years, except maybe everything. Her mother and father were gone, and as the oldest, the nursery had been left to her.

She glanced around, taking in the beauty that lived so deep in the soil. Her rock gardens, a riotous array of colors and textures, roses, lupines, verbascums, and dianthus fire witch, rows of herbs and spice lining the walkway. She breathed in the rosemary and thyme along with a new appreciation for what had almost been lost to her after her father had died. She’d thought he’d done a decent job keeping it going after her mother’s death from cancer when she was thirteen, but he wasn’t the one born to nature, and as his lupus progressed from bad to worse, she’d had to drop out of college her junior year and take on more of the everyday tasks, letting her dream of a botany degree wither and die. When he passed five years ago, she’d completely taken the reins, only to find it was barely surviving. She was somehow able to bring it back from the brink of ruin, and it had become what Zain’s mother, Qadesh, had called her river, where all things moved with the current, free and with ease, and where she found her bliss.

Ina, I’ve loaded the delivery. Are you coming or staying?

She put her hand over her eyes, a visor against the rising September sun, to see Tihomir Lukić standing, his arms akimbo, waiting for her answer. If it weren’t for him... well she probably wouldn’t be standing here, surveying her small kingdom. He’d been a miracle who’d shown up when she was at her lowest, when she was ready to throw in the towel and give up her beloved land. He’d stepped in and together they’d brought the nursery back to not only its original glory, but to a new and improved version. He’d planted a pumpkin patch, which had increased their sales in October, and he’d honed the beekeeping skills he’d brought with him from Serbia and they now sold two types of honey, one of which was infused with medicinal herbs that Hina bought by the quart. As he’d once told her, plants depend on bees for pollination. He’d figured the colonies would improve the health of their stock and convinced her they’d be an asset. With her approval, he’d set up two hives, managed them so well they were now up to twelve.

With a wild array of flowers, trees and shrubs, the bees never ran out of nectar. Gardens were their sanctuaries and she had acres of them.

She called out, I’m coming. As she walked closer to her truck, which he was using for this morning’s delivery, she asked, Are you sure you don’t need me along?

Not for this run but you might want to come to the Rushes’ later this morning.

She hadn’t been out to their house since spring. I do. I want to see what they’ve done.

Mary and Duncan Rush had moved into town last April and had wanted help with their vegetable and butterfly garden. Ina had been only too eager to help, but she hadn’t had time to get out there since. If Ti was going, she wanted to tag along and see how well her suggestions had worked. With fall approaching, they were getting ready to winterize the yard. Ti would be the one helping them with it, her growing girth making it hard for her to carry out the routine tasks she’d been doing for years. She’d been a one-woman dynamo when it came to constructing a garden from nothing, still was, but the days when she could lift anything heavier than a bucket were temporarily gone.

She walked over to where he stood, readjusting the scrunchie to contain her long black hair.

You don’t mind dropping me at the Bean?

Not at all. I know how important it is to see your friends first thing.

He did and it was nice. He never gave her grief about working without her for the first hour of their workday and it was just another thing she appreciated about him. That he was using her truck today, made her drop-off a detour. Their other vehicles were being used for deliveries to other locations, so she’d had no choice but to give hers up.

She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her overalls. She’d dragged the pair out from the back of her closet on Sunday and found them so comfortable, she’d already ordered a few more on-line. Maternity clothes weren’t made with a gardener in mind, so she was learning to improvise.

She confessed easily, It’s not only about my friends this morning. I’ve got a craving for Rhea’s apple cider donut muffins. I had one yesterday and it’s all I’ve been thinking about since I got up.

There hadn’t been many cravings, although she was perpetually hungry, but the minute she’d tasted the moist apple goodness, her senses had come alive.

Ti asked, Did we ever decide whether to place an order for Saturday?

They’d talked about it, but now the kick-off to their fall festival was only four days away. She didn’t know where the time had gone. The last she’d looked at the calendar it had been the beginning of August, and her days since had been so filled with catch-up work and festival planning that she’d missed almost a whole month. She’d been in charge of all things plant related and the scheduling for the vendors who wanted to sell their wares on the first day of the event. There had been dozens of applicants this year, and it had been a challenge in parceling the spots out fairly. She’d had to squeeze another couple of tables onto the grid to accommodate not only their favorites, like Cassidy’s, who’d be selling their macarons, but first timers like Ginny who wanted to sell caramel apples. After running it by Ti, who was primarily in charge of the fun activities ranging from pumpkin picking to ring-toss games to building the maze and spinning honey, they decided that kiosks located at various points across the nursery might be the way to go. It was an added expense but one that might pay dividends.

The community event had been one of Tihomir’s suggestions, and they’d opened the gardens up to the public the first year he’d been hired. He’d been adding to the fun and games every fall, had extended it from one day to cover the entire month, with each weekend after Labor Day offering a variety of activities and sales promos. Since the people of Eden were always looking for an excuse to get out, they came in droves. It didn’t only help the Gardens profit margin, it had helped it gain a place in the heart of the small town.

Rhea’s working a kiosk next weekend, so I never thought to ask.

She would have liked to have given Rhea space every Saturday, being her friend and all, but it wouldn’t have been fair to the others clamoring for a spot. If she placed an order at the Bean today, even though it would be short notice, she was sure they could accommodate her without throwing the café into turmoil, but that wasn’t what was worrying her.

I’m not sure the café could give us what we need. If we base the estimate of attendees on last year’s numbers, we’re talking dozens of dozens.

Rhea had hired another full-time baker when she expanded the space, and it was Robin who was in charge of the muffin-making enterprise while Rhea was away.

Ti countered, As they say, the early bird catches the worm. First come, first serve. When we run out, we run out.

Okay, maybe they could set up a table and sell the Bean’s delicious coffee and pastries at the front of the sales booth. That way she and her friend could both make money.

I’ll talk to Isabel this morning. See if it’s doable. Isabel was the one in charge of the café at the moment. Rhea was still on her honeymoon. She should have been back by now, but the couple had to postpone the trip by a week because of the bodies found on the property Aisin was developing. Rhea had been the second one of their tribe to tie the knot, just within the last two months, and there were several more couples queued to go.

Ina shook her head, not only at the speed with which her friends were hooking up but the fact that Rhea had taken a mere seven days to celebrate. I can’t believe they went to Paris for only a week.

Ti shrugged. Neither one of them could take the time. Ace’s project had that bump with the bodies being exhumed and Rhea, well, she doesn’t like to be away from the café for more than a day. Besides, I would think a week in Paris is better than a three-week stay in the Poconos.

She had to grudgingly agree, not that she begrudged Rhea her trip to France. She deserved it. She’d been carrying a heavy load since both her first husband and parents died over four years ago. She’d been left alone with a daughter, Willow, and had become guardian for her teenage sister, Abby, and had been struggling to make ends meet since. All the women in the tribe were happy that Aisin could help carry some of it now that they were married.

Tihomir walked her to the truck and helped her in. He was doing double duty now that she’d found herself more blimp than gardener. She maneuvered the seat belt across her bump as he started the pick-up. I still can’t believe those bodies they found dated back to the seventeenth century. More than that, I can’t believe Cerri got over her aversion to caves and went in to get them.

Her friend and fellow goddess, Cerridwen Moore, was a forensic anthropologist who’d worked in archeology before being caught in a cave-in over four years ago. She’d switched majors, but nothing dimmed the memory of the trauma, and she’d been shying away from tight spaces since.

Zain knew how to coax her in. He’s a good guy. I’m glad they’re together.

Ina was, too. Zain had not only helped dispel her aversion to caves but had erased years of celibacy.

Ironic that he’s the brother of the asshole who caused the disaster.

It’s just a lot smaller world than we think.

The truck had started coughing and she asked, What is that noise?

The rattle was louder than it had been yesterday.

Probably the belt or the exhaust.

She sighed, knowing she’d have to get a new truck soon. The Ford 150 was like an old friend, and she didn’t want to think about having to part with him.

Glancing back at Ti, she asked about the upcoming soccer game, scheduled for Sunday. He told her what she already knew. They were going up against a fairly competitive team, and the only one that had come close to winning since his brother arrived on the scene.

You’re pretty much unbeatable since Miloje started playing with you.

His shit-eating grin told her he agreed.

She couldn’t help but smile at the familiar face. Careful, Ti. Your obsession is showing.

Feigning ignorance, he joked, What? What obsession?

Well, there’s the team or the game itself. I have to admit, you’ve pulled together one hell of a machine.

Getting Miloje here was key. He looked over at her and grinned. But not only to improve our chances for the trophy. It’s good to have my brother here.

I know how much you were looking forward to his move.

It had been iffy, none of them sure he’d be able to sponsor his brother. It had taken longer than anticipated due to the fact that Ti wasn’t a citizen, and only held a green card, but Miloje’s celebrity helped. It made it easier to grease some palms, which Ti had done and his brother had arrived a few months ago. Ti had talked about it from beginning to end, worrying that his brother wouldn’t be allowed in, that Miloje would change his mind. He was concerned about him finding a job, his settling into a town so unlike where they came from.

It has gone better than expected. He’s found a home with Simon and loves what he’s doing. I worried he’d be lost without soccer.

Simon Iraklidis was engaged to her friend Minnie and was opening a restaurant in town. Miloje was working his way up to sous chef and loved this new calling. He was managing the food truck while Simon was busy with the renovations for Delos, his new eatery, which they hoped would be open by the end of the year. Miloje had been a local hero in Serbia, which was where the Lukić brothers were from. He’d played on the country’s premier soccer team but sustained an injury to his leg that he couldn’t come back from. After his move to Eden, the brothers had lived together in an apartment in town before Miloje moved out and in with his girlfriend.

He seems to be doing very well.

Yes, he has a job, a woman, and he’s living the American dream.

She glanced over to study him, wondering if he was living it, too. He’d looked so different when she’d first met him at his interview for the job. His hair had been short, close-cropped, and he’d been clean-shaven and reserved to the point of shy. Today his hair was chin length, and he might not technically have a beard, but he’d perfected the stubble look. And he was anything but shy. He was quite popular with their customers, knowledgeable in a way that made people trust him, and she’d bet he could get any woman he wanted.

She arched her eyebrows as if a light had dawned. You don’t date, do you?

He turned those blue-gray eyes on her, his expression curious.

Where did that question come from?

What you said about your brother having a woman.

There was a surprising wry edge to his mouth. To set the record straight, I do date, but unlike you, I keep the details to myself.

She dipped her head, suddenly embarrassed. How many times had she gone on and on about some man she was going out with and waxed on about his strengths or the chemistry only to have it crumble to dust?

"I do share too much, don’t I?"

Did. Past tense. I haven’t heard a word in months.

That’s only because I gave up on the idea of true love. Besides, I think it’s tacky to be on the prowl with a baby on board.

It didn’t mean her juices had dried up, just that she was averse to hopping into someone’s bed to scratch that itch while pregnant.

Ti seamlessly pulled into a spot in front of Magic Bean and put the truck in park. I’m sure once the baby’s here, you’ll change your mind about dating and get right back to it.

She stiffened at his tone. Was that sarcasm she heard in his voice? It was so unlike him to belittle her in any way, and she fought off the hurt, considering the tone before she said honestly, I think once the baby’s here, I’ll be too tired to go chasing after anyone.

He shifted and faced her, a look of disdain on his face. "Why do you feel you have to chase after anyone? It’s demeaning, Ina."

Okay, it had been sarcasm. She stuttered, not knowing how to respond to that. It was the first time he’d given any indication he thought that way. Had she become a joke? If she looked at it from his perspective, or anyone’s for that matter, she herself might find it sadly humorous.

Before she could respond, he added, Just look at Rhea and Aisin, Simon and Minnie. Haven’t you realized yet, it finds you?

She was starting to. Watching how Cerri and Zain had come together, had been an eye-opener. The odds of that happening were so low as to be negligible.

I... I think you might be right.

He opened his door and stepped out, his parting shot, You’re so busy looking that you might miss what’s already there.

There was irritation in his tone, or was it anger?

When the door clicked shut behind him, she sat dumbfounded.

CHAPTER TWO

Tihomir waited by the door for Ina to get out, his foot tapping in impatience. She was so infuriating at times, he wanted to howl. Why couldn’t she see that she didn’t have to go the lengths she did to find love? And she went to great lengths in her search. She’d trip over herself trying to appease, do what she could to hold on to a relationship, if anyone could call it that, when it began to peter out. She’d cry until she had no more tears, before getting up to repeat the cycle. She was a good woman, a beautiful woman, but for some reason she thought she needed someone to be whole. That so wasn’t the case. Within her small kingdom, she was queen, one of the most sought-after experts on plants sourced and grown in the country, and she was passionate about plant-based medicine. He’d been trying to get her to give lectures at the local community colleges, lead workshops for burgeoning gardeners, but she’d always shied away from it. He didn’t understand why, but then again, he didn’t understand a lot of things.

Her stubborn tenacity was one of them.

He let the door close and walked over to the truck and knocked on the window.

She rolled it down just enough that they could hear each other.

Are you coming in or not?

I don’t know.

There were tears in her eyes and he instantly regretted being so prickly. She’d become more hormonal with each passing month of her pregnancy and he couldn’t stand seeing her sad, never mind crying.

He softened his tone when he said, I have to get the stock to the construction site. Let’s get you in so I can get going. I’m sure your friends are waiting.

He heard the click as the seat belt released and watched her roll up her window before she got out. He reached out his hand to help her down, and she took it.

She remained on the sidewalk and asked, Why did you say that?

The tears were gone but she still looked stricken.

He was used to a more sinister look because she didn’t usually take criticism well. It moved him enough to say more diplomatically, Because you have to live your life, be who you are, and allow things to happen. If your Prince Charming walked into the nursery one day, you might not even be there to meet him, so busy chasing after some elusive dream.

Her expression clouded further. She looked down at herself and asked, Even if he did, who’d want to go out with me looking like this?

He had to smile at that. She probably still had remnants of dirt under her fingernails from her constant digging in soil, a rounded belly and her old, worn work boots on.

At the moment you look like Mother Earth. Some men find that attractive.

Well where have they been hiding all my life?

"I suppose you have looked pretty thoroughly by now, haven’t you?"

Yeah. Just like I thought: in all the wrong places.

He sighed heavily. He’ll come out when he’s ready. Let him look for you this time. Come on, I’ve got to get going. I’m already running late.

She let him guide her in, and as soon as she saw her friends sitting in their regular booth, she began to make her way over.

He asked, Do you want me to get your muffin?

She gave him a tremulous smile and said, If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it.

Breet was giving her one of her pixie-like smiles and he heard a Hey, you, as he made his way to the counter to order for both of them.

Her friends met nearly every morning before work called. The café was their favorite place to start the day, and he sometimes dropped Ina off before running errands or making deliveries. He’d gotten to know them pretty well over the last four years. Minerva was a family court judge, and her man, Simon, was his brother’s boss and one of the members of his soccer team. Gwen was an ex-army who together with her man, Ioan Sayer, was opening an army training center soon. Miko, who worked at a senior center, and her husband, had just moved to Eden from California. Eric was another teammate. Lilith Varsela was married to Niall Graeme and Cerridwen Moore had just become involved with one of the medical examiners, Zain Bishara. He was a great addition to both the tribe and the soccer team, adding to their prowess on the field.

His team was his pride and joy, and as Ina pointed out, it was working like a well-oiled machine. He wished he could say the same about