I moved before she needed to answer. My hand closed around the gatepost, and Fletcher's eyes came back to me.
"You're done," I said.
Fletcher's mouth flattened.
"You're done putting my land in your materials. You're done calling the P-Patch a community amenity to dress up pressure on the fence line. You're done using my refusal as a step in your process." I held his gaze. "If anyone asks, my answer is no. If they ask tomorrow, it's no. If they ask through you, through Cascadia, through a lawyer, through a surveyor, through a man with a clipboard and a better haircut, it's still no."
Daphne coughed beside me, and Birdie hid a smile behind the peppers.
Fletcher didn't smile. "You've made your point."
"I've made it before. You didn't like it then either."
For a second, his face moved like he might say something brotherly, something old, something that remembered summersat Beargrass before he learned to talk about access instead of water.
Fletcher kept his mouth shut. He put his phone in his pocket. "I'll handle Cascadia."
"Monica said you don't represent my parcel anymore."
His eyes narrowed. "She called you."
"She called Daphne. I answered questions."
"That was a mistake."
"No," I said. "Putting my land in that packet was the mistake."
Fletcher looked at me for one long second, then stepped back from the gate. "Enjoy your tomatoes."
"Enjoy your review."
Daphne made another sound, and this time it was definitely a laugh.
Fletcher turned and walked toward his car.
I waited until his car door shut before I looked down at Daphne. "You have anything sharp in your bag?"
Her eyes widened for half a second before her mouth fell open. "Zane McCrae."
"What?"
"Too soon."
"I asked for public safety."
"You asked because you're terrible."
"Only around tires."
She laughed then, full and bright, and the last of the tightness around my ribs loosened.
From the pepper bed, Birdie said, "Well, I don't know about anybody else, but I found that very educational."
Tyler hurried back from the compost. "Did I miss it?"
Gus picked up his rake. "Yes."
"All of it?"
