"And you could still come upstairs with me when you're not making Clark take dictation," he suggested. "Now that the main construction's done, everything that needs doing is indoors up there. You can tell me when I get the planters level."

He could invent things for her to do. Just like he used to with someone else he cared about.

"Tell me which herbs to plant where. Watch a city boy like me try to remember which one is rosemary and which one is chives."