It all sounded so perfectly reasonable in her head, and yet, she was terrified of saying any of it aloud.

“Oh, hey,” Soleil said stupidly. “You’re here.”

To Tonio, she said, “You’ve got chicken duty. You won’t have to worry about the dog if you’re in the chicken zone.”

The chickens would keep him busy for a little while. They needed to be fed, and their coop cleaned once any fresh eggs had been collected. He’d already done the job twice thanks to his dog fear, so he knew the drill.

His shoulders slumped. “Do I have to? The chicken coop smells.”

“Your other choice is mucking out the barn. Which would you like?”

“Chicken duty,” he said sullenly, then slunk away.

West watched the boy go. “How’s your current batch of kids doing?”

He’d spent enough time at the farm with her during the summer to have a rough idea what she did here-take the most promising applicants who applied to her program and give them an internship at the farm, where they could learn skills to take back to their community and help run urban-garden projects.

“They’re doing well,” she said, glad to focus on something innocuous.

He nodded. “I’m going to repair that fence. Where can I find a hammer and nails around here?”

She thought of protesting his help again, but really, she needed the fence fixed, and there wasn’t much sense in turning down a free hand today. And if he was occupied away at the property line, she’d have time to mentally brace herself for the inevitable baby conversation.

“Just inside the barn, to the left, you’ll find what you need.”