Chapter 9
When he was about halfway done, she came out wearing a purple hat and matching gloves, a winter coat pressed out from layers underneath. Alex stopped and leaned on his shovel handle. "I brought a shovel and a hoe. I didn't know which you'd prefer."
"I'll hoe."
They worked side by side. Alex dug with slow, powerful thrusts turning over large chunks of soil. Kimberly was able to work more quickly swinging the hoe from shoulder height and chopping the thick earth under the removed grass. Alex finished upturning the entire bed of the garden and, using the blunt tip of his shovel like a hoe, started chopping alongside Kimberly.
"Kim, Alex," A woman's voice carried from the yard next door, "would you two like to warm up with some hot chocolate?"
"
