Luca's POV
Maya stood behind her with coffee and the specific expression she wore when Aria exceeded even her own expectations.
"The boots," I said.
"Garden appropriate," Aria said. "Waterproof and grippy." She looked at the boots with satisfaction. "I read that wet soil is slippery."
"It is."
"So." She held up one foot. The frog on the toe looked back at me.
I looked at Maya.
She raised her eyebrows.
We went to the garden.
The contractor had finished the soil amendment two days earlier. The beds were ready. Dark and turned and smelling like something productive. Aria stood at the edge of the east bed and looked at it with the expression of someone arriving at a destination they'd been planning toward for months.
Which she had.
"It's ready," she said.
"Ready," I confirmed.
She
