"I am," he said.
June's face softened. "Then don't mistake worry for a plan. Go home, fix your gate, and finish bringing those apples in before the weather changes. We'll talk about the rest when we've got something useful to say."
Ethan returned to the farm and spent the afternoon replacing hardware properly rather than adding one more repair to the pile of temporary fixes. Lily supervised from an overturned bucket, issuing instructions with all the confidence of someone who had never tightened a hinge in her life. When he finished, the gate swung smoothly, caught cleanly, and closed without a sound.
"Ms. Hayes bought a good hinge," Lily said approvingly.
"She did."
"Does that mean she gets to come visit?"
"You aren't supposed to invite people here just because they buy you hardware."
"I wasn't going to invite her because of the hardware," Lily replied. "I was going to invite her because she doesn't know what a goat is allowed to eat. Somebody should teach her."
The next visit happened for a different reason. Victoria called rather than appearing unannounced, which Ethan appreciated more than he told her. She explained that her company was evaluating a regional food distribution project and she wanted to understand the barriers faced by independent producers. There were studies and consultants, she said, but she suspected they were missing things that only someone living the problem could explain.
"So you're asking me for advice," he said.
"Yes."
"What does that usually cost?"
"I can pay you a consulting fee."
He thought about it. She was asking for his time and knowledge, and he needed both to be valued. "Then you can pay me the same hourly rate you pay a field consultant," he said. "But you come in boots, and you agree not to put my farm in some glossy brochure without asking."
Victoria answered immediately. "Done."
When she arrived on Saturday morning, she wore jeans, a dark blue sweater, and sturdy brown boots that looked new but appropriate. Her hair was tied back, her phone was tucked in a coat pocket, and she had brought a notebook instead of an entourage. Ethan met her beside the repaired gate. She inspected the hinge like an engineer checking a bridge.
"Excellent work," she announced.
"I'm considering putting it on my resume."
"You'd be surprised what passes for executive accomplishment."
They began at the apple orchard. The trees were uneven in height, some scarred by age, some young enough to have been grafted after Claire moved to the farm. Ethan explained that roughly a third of his crop could be sold at a premium through direct markets, another portion went to local restaurants and farm stands, and the remainder was sold at lower prices when he needed cash quickly. His biggest problem wasn't growing good fruit. It was getting buyers and trucks to line up at the moment the fruit was ready.