Page 8 of Pick Your Spot

Knox laughed. “Fox was always in a quandary about things too. They seem to have had a lot in common. I wish I’d known more, and I wish I’d met Jay.”

Thea nodded. “Jay was lonely, although he wouldn’t admit it. I wish the two of them had fixed whatever was broken between them.”

Knox did as well. It would have been great to see Fox connect with his brother. He could imagine the two of them nattering at each other from matching rockers on the porch of the farmhouse out front.

What a waste.

And it reinforced Knox’s desire to bring his family together. He, Lawson, and Burke all lived in Boston but didn’t see each other often enough. Probably once a month.

With Jolie in the Carolinas and Amber in Chicago, he saw them even less. Video chats were few and far between. He didn’t want them to become the next generation of Fox and Jay. He wanted his family to be whole and happy.

And to achieve that, he needed to know more. “If you had unlimited funds, what are the top three things you’d do to improve this place?”

Her eyes lit up as the huge dog settled on her lap for a nap. “Unlimited funds? That’s an amazing dream. The first thing I’d do would be to build a state-of-the-art Worminator.”

Knox couldn’t stop the laugh. “A Worminator?”

She grinned. “That’s what I call my dream composting facility. Worms are vital to the health of the soil. Between them and their poop, they create top-quality compost, which equals top-quality soil.”

“You really have a thing for compost.”

She grinned. “I do. That’s why I’m a soil consultant.”

“I didn’t even know that was a thing.”

She shrugged. “Obviously, you didn’t grow up on a farm.”

“Did you?”

Her face showed sorrow for a moment before she cleared her expression. “No. I wasn’t that lucky. But I grew up in Iowa, and farming was everywhere. Conversations about soil were as common as those about sports or celebrities, maybe more so.”

He shook his head with a smile. He wanted to know more about her past, but he didn’t want to push. And he needed to stay focused on the goal. “Hard to imagine. Tell me more about this Worminator.”

“It’s a small worm-sewage facility, similar to sewage treatment plants in cities. For a farm this size, it would be optimal to produce about three tons of compost per year. Worms do a lot of the work in composting. A facility turns worm poop into magic soil.”

Knox laughed again. When was the last time he’d laughed this often and this easily? “Other than branches, moldy apples, and worm poop, what else goes into the compost?”

She grinned. “Animal poop too. Coffee grounds are super helpful.”

“I can help with that part. I need coffee to function as a human being.”

She smiled back, but her tone was wistful. “Me too.”

Knox wanted to know more about Thea Zimmer but heneededto know more about the farm.

“Okay, the composting facility is your first choice. Second choice?”

“Still unlimited funds?”

He nodded, and her answering grin had his chest puffing up. He had it bad.

She closed her eyes, and a soft smile lit her face. “I’d fix up the pond.”

“Seriously? I wasn’t expecting that.”

“A healthy pond would help increase the biodiversity. It would attract good predators like geese and ducks. They’d help keep down the pests that are difficult to eliminate. I’d hope for some owls and bats to arrive, too.”

He’d never met anyone like Thea. Composting and predators at the top of her wish list. She was a fascinating woman. “Now I have to know what item number three would be.

---