Bob shrugged. “Well, this is just an interview. I’m going to be gone for a couple of months, though. Edward hooked me up with a friend of his who’s developing some new kind of soil additive, and I’m going to help her with it for a while.” What he didn’t say was that he’d been finding it increasingly hard to be around Laura and had leapt at the chance to get some space. He needed to work out what he wanted, who he wanted, and in fact, who he wanted to be himself. He’d thought everything was settled in his life, but then Laura showed up and made it both better and worse. “Her experimental farm is in Massachusetts, so I’ll go there after the interview.”

“Crap,” said Polly. “Who’s going to take care of the garden? Who’s going to feed Pearl?”

“Not to mention Bob and Patrick,” added Libby.

Bob had built his water feature, a koi pond, and Maggie had run out and bought three fish to live in it. They’d grown suspiciously fat, and Bob had accused multiple people of feeding them on the sly.

“Someone who can be trusted,” said Bob firmly. “Someone with self-control.”

“Not me,” said Polly. “I’m not good at self-control, and they hate me.”

Asher laughed. “Because you lean over the pond and scare them.”

“Not intentionally,” replied Polly. “I’m giving them advice.”

“From your experience as a fish?”

Polly nodded. “I grew up on the beach, remember?”

“Which is exactly where fish do NOT want to be,” said Asher, who’d gotten more relaxed about his feelings for Polly, despite the fact that they’d only grown deeper and stronger the longer he knew her. He wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t go out with him, but he was hoping she’d eventually change her mind. She woke something in him, something lighthearted he thought he’d lost forever. Something silly.

Polly shrugged and finished her dinner, pushing back her chair. “Thanks for dinner, Maggie. Congratulations, Bob, I guess this means I get my dog back?” She stood up. “I’m going out, see you guys later.” She was dressed, unusually for her, in sweatpants and a T-shirt with a pigeon on it. Her hair was caught at the nape of her neck in a loose bun, and the whole effect was relaxed but incredibly pretty.

“Date?” asked Asher, completely failing to sound casual.

“Friends,” said Polly.

“You have a lot of friends,” he said.

“True story,” she replied, leaving the room.

There was a pause as Asher gazed after her.

Laura cleared her throat. “Ash, why don’t you tell Polly you like her?”

He looked around at the table. “I did, kind of,” he said. “I asked her out over the summer and she said no.”