"The weed?"
"Me."
I crouched across from her. "You reconsidering something?"
Her gaze lifted to mine. "Several things. Most of them involve whether behaving ourselves was too ambitious."
The heat that moved through me was fast and mean.
I looked down at the carrot tops. "Pull the weed, Daphne."
Her mouth curved. "That sounded official."
"It was either that or kiss you in front of Birdie."
She glanced toward the pepper bed.
Birdie didn't look up, but she smiled into her basket.
Daphne leaned toward the weed. "The garden has too many witnesses."
"That's been a problem since day one."
She pulled. The weed came free with the root intact, and her face brightened with the same pleased look she'd given the repaired drip line yesterday.
I wanted to see that look in my bed.
I stood before my control got any worse. "Good. Keep going to the marker. Then we'll switch to tying tomatoes."
"Intermediate string privileges again?"
"You're not cleared for advanced string until after noon."
"That feels unfair."
"It's a safety issue."
Daphne laughed and went back to the bed.
Work steadied the morning, but it didn't make the pressure go away. The sun climbed hot and white over the pines. Bees moved through the purple flowers near the gate. The repaired drip line ticked along the south row, darkening the soil around the roots. Every ordinary sound sat over something waiting: the scrape of Gus's bucket, Birdie's clippers, Tyler negotiating withthe compost pile, Daphne's breath when she bent over the bed, and my phone sitting facedown inside the shed.
At nine fifty-seven, Daphne's tote buzzed on the shed shelf.
I was tightening a tomato tie near the middle row. Daphne looked up from the west bed, dirt on her forearm and a loose strand of brown hair stuck to her cheek.
She stood and pulled off one glove. "That's Monica."
"We'll take it in the shed."
I looked toward Birdie. "Give us five."
Birdie nodded once. "Take ten if it saves me from watching Tyler invent compost law."
Tyler lifted both hands. "I asked one question about jurisdiction."
Gus said, "Dirt has jurisdiction."
Daphne pressed her lips together as we walked to the shed.
