Magnolia Parks Series Novels & Stories

Savannah, watching through the side window, felt her chest seize. Magnira did not flinch. “I remember the labs,” she continued. “I remember the gardens. I remember where Magnolia died. I remember her voice in my sleep. And now…” She looked up. “I remember mine.” Behind her, Weston’s gaze gleamed. “Project Legacy will rise again—with you as its cornerstone.” Colton stepped forward, face taut with disbelief. Julian whispered, “It’s happening all over again.” Savannah barely breathed. Magnira turned, her expression unreadable.

Magnolia began, as she walked around the pool, the pot still in her hand. Cassandra partly zoned her out, as she felt Caleb’s hand capture her jaw. Her eyes glazed over in desire, as she held his bicep. “He accepts her with your kiss of life…” she heard Magnolia say. Caleb leaned down and pressed his lips against hers deeply…and that was the last thing Cassandra heard from Magnolia. ****

"I've been coming back ever since." We walked the paths. He knew which beds were which, the seasonal schedule of the plantings, which section was managed by the Parks Department and which was tended by a neighborhood collective that had maintained it for thirty years. He told me about the magnolia, which had been planted by a woman who had lived in the building next door and whose family still visited it in April. I listened with the complete attention I brought to things I found genuinely interesting. Which was everything he said. That was the problem. Or not the problem, the complication. The specific, warm complication of a person who found another person interesting in the full, unpartit