Page 12 of Pick Your Spot

Would anyone else feel the excitement he felt for this place? Would they see the potential and the possibilities?

Only one way to find out.

Thea forced herself not to turn back to see what Knox was doing. The man intrigued her in many ways. She wanted to know what drove him to pull his family together. What had happened to put the loneliness she sometimes saw in his eyes and heard in his voice?

He was confident and sure of himself. And she really wanted to know what it would feel like to follow up on the chemistry that zipped between them. He was gorgeous and sexier than any man should be, but it was Knox’s complete devotion to his family that pulled her to him.

When she’d heard Jay had family, she’d thought maybe a niece or nephew. A middle-aged, cranky version of Jay himself. Why else wouldn’t he have mentioned them? Instead, it was a great-nephew and his siblings. She didn’t know the others yet, but if Knox was any indication, they’d be good people, too. Why hadn’t Jay connected with them before it was too late?

When she’d found out Jay had left his land to his family, she’d been surprised and a little hurt. She’d thought he’d at least have included her somehow. Maybe not with the land, but with a memento of some kind. Or her cabin.

Guilt filled her. She deliberately hadn’t told Knox she lived on the land. Her cabin was further back than they’d walked, and he probably wouldn’t stumble across it any time soon, but she should have told him.

She hadn’t been able to face the thought of being kicked out. Especially as day turned to night.

With a shudder, she forced the thought away. She had at least one more night in her home.

Fox nuzzled her hand and bounded off into the trees. Probably chasing a squirrel or gopher. The squirrels weren’t a problem, but the gophers were. The land needed a few owls to take care of that problem, but that was way down on Thea’s list.

Maybe with Knox’s unlimited funds, she could get some owl nesting boxes built and installed. She didn’t know if the phraseif you build it, they will comeapplied to owls.

Sadly, that was someone else’s problem. Jay had been interested in all her ideas, and they’d talked about the possibilities while sitting on the back porch of the farmhouse in the evenings when the work was done.

He’d liked her visions to regenerate the earth and bring back the diversity of the land. When she’d brought up the owls, he’d cackled.Gophers belong to the land, too.

She’d retorted that they could belong to someone else’s land. Someone who wasn’t trying to produce apples.

Then he’d cackled some more.

Thea sighed and blinked away the tears and the loneliness. She was used to it.

Time to suck it up and kick herself out of her own pity party. The trees always made her feel better, so she slowed her pace and checked out the buds.

At her compost shed, she dragged over the hose and watered all the sections. The night had deepened, but it was a clear night, and she could see well enough with the moon. The water helped the compost progress. If she couldn’t talk Knox into building her a facility, the more progress she could make here, the better. Even better, they’d have both. Two different types of healthy compost.

When she was done, she returned the hose to the side of the shed. She’d like to put the hose away, but without a key, she had to hope the critters would leave it alone.

She wasn’t sure if the thick material of the hose didn’t appeal to any animals or if the human scent kept them away. Or maybe it was Fox. Whatever it was, she was grateful the hose remained intact.

She hoped her job would follow that trend.

Thea took a different route through the trees than she had in the morning. Her cabin was private and she didn’t want to give away its location by leaving a straight path to it. Some repetition couldn’t be helped, but she tried.

The cabin first showed as a darker spot against the trees which allowed some moonlight to filter through. It didn’t take long for the outline to appear. She was soon inside with the door bolted behind her. Despite being in the rear of the orchard, where most humans didn’t venture, she never forgot to throw the bolt.

During her years as a foster kid, she’d treasured the possessions that were hers and hers alone. Still did. This cabin wasn’t technically hers, but Jay had given it to her. He’d said everyone needed a place of their own.

And he probably hadn’t wanted company up in the house. That thought made her smile. As much as Jay liked to act the grump, he’d been a kind-hearted man.

Her place was furnished with pieces from the farmhouse he hadn’t wanted. They’d used his truck to haul it as close as they could get and then wrestled it the rest of the way. They hadn’t wanted to damage the cover crop by driving on it.

A double bed and mattress. A table with two mismatched chairs. Bar fridge and a stove, probably from the fifties. Even a recliner Jay had deemed an extra.

The tiny bathroom was functional, so she had all the comforts of home. Her home. Which she could lose at any moment.

Sighing, Thea sat at the table and wondered what the next few days would bring.

She’d have to ask Knox if she could borrow the truck so she could run to town and get food. She and Jay had shared some meals, but she’d fended for herself most of the time. Her supplies were down to pantry items, some cheese, a few eggs, and a jar of pickles.

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