“I grow things.”
“You grow things,” I echo.
“Sell them too, most locally. Millie takes a good portion, couple places in town. I build out beds and fix land setups when people need it. Some landscaping projects for the town square and the Grand View Lodge.”
“Wow, that’s your actual job?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“So you charge people for what you’ve been out here doing with me?”
He doesn’t answer right away, which is immediately suspicious. My stomach tightens just a little.
“How much do I owe you?” I ask.
This is a question I didn’t want to ask, but also absolutely need to. He shakes his head once.
“Nothing.”
I frown.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does.”
“It really doesn’t,” I say, crossing my arms. “You just described an entire business model.”
He steps a little closer, but his voice stays calm.
“This isn’t that.”
I narrow my eyes.
“Then what is it?”
He holds my gaze for a second, long enough that I feel it.
“Helping you not ruin good land.”
I look away, out over the yard, trying to pretend that didn’t hit somewhere deeper than it should have.
“You don’t even know if I’m staying,” I say, quieter now.
“That’s your decision.”
“And if I don’t?”
He shrugs slightly.
“Then you’ll leave it better than you found it.”
“Troy, I’m out here on my own for the first time in a cabin that supposedly only needed a little tender loving care. I had no idea you did this for a living. I thought you were just being … well .. being kind and neighborly. But now, I feel like I owe you something.”
His mouth shifts slightly.
“You don’t.”
I tilt my head.
