Bea seemed oblivious to Jeremy’s discomfort as she ate the spaghetti she’d prepared. “That’s awful about Mr. Duncan. I’ve heard shingles are terrible.”

Mitch nodded. “That’s why I figured Jeremy here could help out. Just through harvest.”

“Of course he will.” Bea smiled at her husband. “Right, Jeremy?”

Mitch knew that look. The look of a woman who knew she was going to get her way. It wasn’t fair, but he could hardly say so. He wanted Bea on his side.

The deer-in-the-headlights expression hadn’t left Jeremy’s face. “How long does harvest last?”

Mitch shrugged. “However long it takes.”

He discreetly assessed Jeremy’s hand, which was holding a piece of garlic bread. Didn’t appear suitable for much beyond typing on that computer of his, but surely he could pick rocks out of the potatoes as they rolled by on the belt. Anyone could do that.

“They’re expecting you tomorrow morning. First thing.”

In Jeremy’s silence, Mitch chose to hear a favorable response. It was a win-win. Jeremy would get out of the house, the Duncans would get some much-needed help, and Bea wouldn’t be carrying all the weight of earning an income on her shoulders alone.

“How’s it going back at the Food Farm, B.B.? You getting the hang of it?”

She glanced at Jeremy. “It’s fine. It’s like riding a bike. MacGregor hasn’t changed a thing.”

“It’s handy you can bring groceries home.”

Jeremy lifted his bread as if he were raising a glass to make a toast. “Yeah, thanks for making dinner.”

Bea smiled. “I like cooking for you.”

Pain pierced Mitch’s heart like a fishhook through flesh, and he winced. She looked just like Caroline, smiling like that. He cleared his place and rolled his stiff shoulders. “I’m going up in the attic.”

Bea tilted her head. “What for?”

“The carpet in my room was wet when I got home from work. I’ve got to check if there’s a leak or something.”

Jeremy stood with his plate and grabbed Bea’s, too. “It didn’t rain today.”

The freezing rain predicted had come and gone, and the sky had been clear the past two days.

“I know, but there was a wet spot, right inside the door. Gotta find out where it came from.”

It was the strangest thing. He always kept his bedroom door shut. Always. Where could the water have come from? His bedroom did share a wall with the bathroom, but if there was a pipe leaking somewhere, wouldn’t the water be by the wall? And the attic was unlikely to yield the answer since his room was on the first floor, almost directly beneath Bea’s.

Well, he’d figure it out.

“Need any help?”

Mitch paused. Jeremy didn’t know the first thing about pipes, Mitch was sure of that. And this was his house.