He shrugged before turning back to the pile of lumber. “Can’t blame a man for asking. A guy would walk through fire for a woman like that.”

My jaw tightened. I could do more than blame him for that. I had the sudden urge to fire him on the spot. Which was completely ridiculous and possibly a little insane. I gave myself a mental shake. “I’m headed out, but just come by the house if you need anything.”

“Will do.” Hunter waved before turning back to the work at hand.

I started towards the path that led to the greenhouse, gardens, and the chicken coop. There must not be a rooster present because I’d yet to be woken at the crack of dawn by any crowing. Thank God for that. As I drew closer, I saw that the vegetable garden had been put to rest for the winter. Straw and some sort of cloth covered the rows of dirt.

The greenhouse seemed to be full of life, though. Even through the slightly foggy windows, I could make out plants taking over the space. The chickens clucked hello as I passed. As I opened the door to the building made almost entirely of glass, I called out. “Shay?”

“Back here,” she answered.

I followed the sound of her voice to a far back corner and found her plucking a perfectly ripe tomato from a vine. “Tomatoes in January. I guess this greenhouse does serve a purpose.”

Shay placed the tomato gently in a basket with a few other vegetables. “I try to plant on a rotation, so there’s always something to harvest. It doesn’t always work, but at least it gives us a hit of some of those things you usually miss during winter.”

My gaze traveled over the space. I saw lettuce and kale, snap peas and asparagus, varied tomatoes and squash. The place was a gold mine. “Have you always been good at this?”

Shay laughed. It was the first time I’d heard the sound from her mouth. God, it was beautiful. A hint of her letting go for the briefest of moments before she refocused on the task at hand. “I was horrible when I first started. I think only about ten percent of the things I put in the soil survived that first year. But I got better at it with each season. I have a friend who knows all about it, and she gave me some advice—” Her words halted as if she’d realized that she was openly sharing things without checking herself. “But you don’t need to hear about all of that.”

I leaned a hip against one of the raised beds. “I asked, didn’t I?”

Shay moved on to a squash plant of some sort, carefully surveying her options before plucking one. “Sure, but you don’t want me droning on about the topic.”