Page 25

After the previous day, she looked forward to spending more time getting to know Ford. He was a fascinating man who thought deeply about everything. He didn’t give pat answers that parroted others. His opinions were thought out.

More to love.

Like. Not love. She wasn’t ready for love.

It wasn’t possible to fall in love so quickly.

More rationalizations. If her heart was going to tumble, she wasn’t sure she could stop it.

Shaking it off, Jolie put on a pot of oatmeal and chopped up fruit for everyone. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Thea and Knox joined her in the kitchen with Ford close on their heels.

Sitting around the breakfast table, her traitorous heart pictured them doing this for decades in the future. Which wasn’t likely if she screwed up the relationship she kept picturing with Ford.

Knox nudged her with his elbow. “You okay, Jolie? You seem miles away.”

She smiled and shook away the worries. “Just thinking about duck coops and the pond.”

Thea tilted her head at the window. “Is this downpour going to slow you down? The forecast says it’s going to be like this for the better part of a week.”

Her silly heart did a happy dance at that. “It’ll be fine. I’m used to working around weather of all kinds. But I’m going to help Ford build the duck coops anyway, so the weather won’t be a factor.”

Ford nodded, but she realized how presumptuous she’d sounded. “Unless you have other plans or things you need to do. I’m sure I can figure out the mobile coop.”

Ford grinned. “We’ll do it together. I’ve never built duck coops before and you’re not robbing me of the chance to try something new. It’ll be fun.”

She beamed back at him. “Good. I’m looking forward to it.”

There was a beat of silence before Thea chimed in. “The rain will be good for the compost and the trees. Do you want to check out the Worminator’s progress with me this morning, Knox? I think we have enough of the worm poop tea made, and I’d like to figure out how to add it to the irrigation lines.”

Jolie looked up to find her brother watching her with narrowed eyes. He turned his gaze to Ford and stared at him.

Shoot. She didn’t want him realizing she had feelings for Ford before she’d figured things out herself. Thea had probably been trying to distract her brother because Jolie’s feeling were obvious on her face.

Jolie tamped down her goofy grin and smiled at Thea. “How is that going to work? I need to figure out the irrigation lines from the pond, but not for this season.”

Thea’s eyes sparkled as she spoke. Her new friend was definitely helping her to distract Knox. “We’re probably going to focus only on the trees nearest the Worminator for this year. There’s no point in stretching ourselves too thin. We’ll learn how to do it properly in a small section before we expand the system.”

The conversation bounced around the table, and soon Knox was absorbed into it as well. Crisis averted.

After they’d cleaned up, she and Ford headed out to the barn. She was grateful her rain jacket had a hood as the wind whipped the rain through the trees and it swirled in all directions.

When they reached the barn, Ford unlocked it quickly and held open the door for her. He closed it behind them and laughed. “I think that’s more rain than some countries see in an entire year. And it’s going to continue for a week?”

Jolie laughed. “Maybe we should be building an ark.”

He grinned. “I think duck coops will keep us busy enough. No space in here for an ark.”

She looked around the barn. Ford had made progress in organizing the space, but it was still bursting with pieces of the past. “This is amazing.”

“I know, right? It’s like the previous owners kept things those of us in the future might need. I’m clearing out a workspace on the far side while trying to make a dent in the organizational system.”

“You’ve already done a lot. The building must be happy that you’re cleaning it up and using it.”

He hung his jacket on a hook near the door and took hers to do the same. His wide grin had her smiling back. “Happy? I like the sound of that.”

His voice was sincere. She was used to people not understanding, but Ford seemed to get it. Over the years, she’d seen too many buildings, too many natural spaces that were sad and lonely. That wouldn’t happen on this farm. Together, they were making the land and the buildings happier. Healthier and useful. It was a good project in a good place.

As they worked their way to the other side of the barn, she could see where Ford had made piles of similar items and had set out rows of barrels and crates that contained all kinds of goodies.