“Me too. Well, we have enough for a couple of days, anyway.”
I chuckle. He closes the door, then turns and leans a hip on the counter, looking through the window at the view.
I open a bottle of water and have a few mouthfuls, then hold it out. He looks at it, and for a moment I wonder whether he’s going to comment on the wisdom of sharing a bottle. But he obviously realizes how weird that would be considering what other fluids of mine he’s imbibed, and he takes it and drinks some before replacing the lid.
We study each other for a moment, not saying anything.
“It’s very quiet here,” he says eventually, looking out at the view again.
“Yeah. It’s one reason why I like it.”
“No TV.”
“Nope. You can get the internet via mobile data, but it’s spotty. I normally have a few movies downloaded onto my iPad though. Are you worried about being off grid?”
His gaze comes back to me. “I’m not troubled by a lack of entertainment.” A slight frown flickers on his brow. “Aren’t you concerned about being here? With me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a woman, Maddie, with a guy you hardly know. Aren’t you anxious about your safety?”
“I’ve got a taser in my pocket.”
“Really?”
I snort. “No. Caesar, I went up to a hotel room and had sex with you. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t trust you. Now, shall we take a quick walk around the fields before we eat? It’s definitely going to rain soon.”
He just nods and doesn’t say anything as he heads for the door.
I do trust him, but would that change if I discovered later that he’d known who I was when we slept together? Might I be as suspicious as he is?
Musing on that, I follow him out, sliding on my sunglasses. Sometimes even dull light hurts my eyes.
“I’ll take you on a full tour in the morning,” I tell him as we walk slowly along the path that runs between the fences surrounding the fields. “But I thought I’d show you the scope of the farm and the project.”
I point out the boundaries of the fields so he can orient himself in the landscape, and tell him a bit about the way the soil changes from the low hills to where the ground rises steeply toward the mountains.
Eventually, I stop and show him the small appliance set in the fenceline, facing north to catch the sun. “This is one of the solar-powered devices we use to collect data. Like the AgriTech system, I believe, they transfer the data to an app which we can then use for Verdant, to predict how the pasture growth will respond to weather, soil moisture, and seasonal variation.”
“Right,” he says.
I stop walking. “Look, I know you’re not won over by the AI stuff, but can I ask that you keep an open mind while you’re here?”
“I said ‘right.’ What part of that makes you think I’m not keeping an open mind?”
“It was your tone.”
“I didn’t have a tone.”
“You totally did.”
“I really didn’t,” he says dryly. “I think you’re expecting me to have a tone and so you’re seeing something that wasn’t there.”
“Caesar, your body language is screaming resentment and frustration that you have to be here.”
“My body language? I’m just standing here!”
“It’s the way you’re standing.” I can’t explain how I can feel the waves of exasperation coming off him.
