Page 74 of Pick Your Spot

His phone beeped with an email before they were finished breakfast. The notification had him grinning. “The Worminator is on its way. It’ll be here tomorrow.”

Thea cheered. “That’s amazing. I can’t wait to get it all set up. I can’t believe we’re going to have one. It’s a dream come true.”

He grinned. Not many people would think something with the wordwormin its title was a dream come true. “I’m going to text Ford. I’d love to have his help setting it up. I don’t think this is a two-person job.”

“Probably not. I’m guessing it’s going to take more than a few days, even if we have an extra set of hands.”

Ford didn’t return his text immediately. Not surprising, but Knox had hoped to hear his friend had made the decision to join them.

Once they cleaned up, they took the ATV down to the compost area. With the threat of Gammon hanging over them, Knox wanted to have a vehicle near them at all times.

Thea grabbed the hose and watered the compost while he used her stick to stir up other sections. After the first dousing of compost in his face, he’d learned to work out of the splash zone.

Thea smiled over her shoulder at him. “Do you have the specifications of the Worminator on your phone? We could save some time and work out exactly where to place it before it arrives.”

He nodded. “I’ll pull it up when we’re done here. Does it need a large open area around it?”

Thea shrugged. “Not really. There should be enough room between the trees. The tallest part is the kettle. The platform that holds it is about seven feet tall. Beneath it, we’ll set up the beds for the vermicomposting. We should be able to kickstart things with some of our coffee grounds and scraps. That’ll have things moving well. It should all fit between the trees over by the shed, maybe a little further up.”

Soon, they were pacing things out and Knox was wishing he’d grabbed a tape measure. It would be more accurate than their guesses.

“Does it matter which part is facing the sun, or can we angle it anyway we like?”

“It doesn’t need sun at all, so we’re good to put it wherever it fits. I think having the plumbing and electrical hookups close to the shed is the most important thing. We should probably bury the pipes to protect them, so we’ll need the ground to be free from the larger tree roots.”

He nodded. She was not only a soil expert, but she had a logical brain and wasn’t afraid of hard work or a challenge. A hell of a woman. He knew his family was going to love her.

His phone rang with a call, and Knox pulled it out, expecting a family member. Close. “Hey, Dodge. Thanks for calling me back.”

“Hey, Annie. Where are you?”

He grinned. “Thea and I are pacing out the measurements for the Worminator.”

“Can’t trust you to do that without me. How do I get there?”

Excitement rippled through him. “You’re here?”

“In the driveway. Can my truck make it to that part of the orchard, or should I walk?”

He gave the directions to his friend and hung up. He couldn’t contain the grin. “Dodge is here. As in, driving out to meet us right now.”

Thea smiled. “That’s awesome. You’ll love having your friend here.”

“He’ll be your friend in no time.”

She smiled but he could tell she didn’t believe him. “He’s a great guy. You’re going to like him.”

She nodded. “I already do. He seemed really great on the video chats.”

Because he knew a fair amount about her past, her reaction was perfectly understandable. Getting to know and trust new people would take her some time. Every time she’d moved foster homes, she’d had to live with strangers. He couldn’t imagine.

They’d been so lucky to have Fox take them in when their parents had died. There hadn’t been any other relatives, well, not that they’d known about then. The five of them would likely have been split up in foster care. No one wanted to take on five kids, especially with the oldest in his middle teenage years and the youngest only seven.

Thea squeezed him. “You okay?”

He pulled back and kissed her forehead. This woman was so intuitive. “I’m good. Just thinking how damn lucky we were that Fox was willing to take us in. Five kids is a lot.”

“I can’t even imagine.”

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