Chapter 158 Chapter 158

Chapter 158 Chapter 158
Kira’s POV

Around mid-morning, I was down at the timber barn. When Talon first bought the property, he completely gutted the smaller barn structure and converted it into my personal soil analysis lab. It had concrete floors, long wooden workbenches, my centrifuge, spectrometers, and all my testing equipment laid out cleanly. The heavy double doors were pushed halfway open to let the summer breeze in, and the small wall vent fan hummed quietly in the corner. On the main wall above my main desk, I had a massive corkboard pinned up with soil sample maps, nutrient tracking sheets, and crop rotation schedules for the lower fields.

I had spent the last three hours analyzing the latest data points from our test plots. The numbers were showing a massive improvement in the soil composition since we turned in the organic matter back in the spring. My hands flew across the keyboard as I logged the nitrate levels and updated the seasonal yield projections. A shadow fell across the concrete floor, pulling me out of the spreadsheets. I looked up to see Talon standing in the doorway of the barn. He was wearing a chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, dark pants, and work boots. His hair was a little messy from the wind outside, and he had a coffee mug in his hand.

"Am I interrupting a high-level data breakdown?" he asked, stepping inside out of the sun, his voice smooth and relaxed.
"Just finishing up the plot summaries," I said, leaning back in my chair and stretching my arms over my head. "Though running nitrate balances is a lot easier than deciding what we're doing for lunch."

"Lunch is handled," he said, walking across the floor and setting his coffee mug down on the edge of my workbench. He reached down, his hands gently squeezing the back of my shoulders to loosen up the tightness from sitting at the computer. "Marcus dropped off a basket of heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from the lower greenhouse about ten minutes ago. I was thinking we could throw together some sandwiches and sit on the back deck at the house." he said.
"Sounds good to me," I said, leaning back into his touch. I turned my head to look up at him. "How did the city call go this morning?" I asked.
His expression stayed calm, a small smirk touching the corners of his mouth.

"It went fine," he said, resting one hand on the back of my chair. "In fact, it went fast. I spent two hours on a secure video call with the risk management team in Manhattan reviewing their quarterly models, and the whole time I was looking at their spreadsheets, all I could think about was the lower pasture fence line and whether Marcus had finished setting the new irrigation timer." he said.
"You miss managing all those corporate accounts?" I teased softly.

"Not even a little bit," he said with a laugh, his deep voice filling the open space of the barn. "Sitting there listening to them argue over financial projections felt completely pointless. My focus isn't in a city office anymore. It's right here on this land."
"So what's the plan for your consulting work?" I asked.
"I told them I'm cutting my call schedule down to twice a month, max," he said, pulling up a stool and sitting down next to my bench. "Everything else can be sent over in basic email reports. I'm done sitting in front of a webcam for four hours a day when I could be out here helping you run tests or working on the property."

"Twice a month?" I smiled. "They're not going to like that."
"They'll get over it," he said, reaching out to take my hand, his fingers lacing through mine. "I'm done giving my time to corporate boards. My priority is here. On this property, and on us." We sat there in the quiet lab for a minute while the morning light streamed through the open barn doors.
"Come on," he said after a beat, standing up and pulling me out of my chair. "Let me help you power down the testing gear so we can get some food. The sun is right over the deck, and I want to hear about how those north field nitrate levels came out."

We walked out of the lab barn together, turning the lock on the side door and heading up the gravel path toward the main house, our shoulders bumping as we walked. Later that afternoon, after we ate on the deck and Talon went over to the main barn to work on fixing up an old wooden bench, I stayed by the kitchen window, looking out over the back yard and the lab barn down the slope. The wind was moving through the tall pines along the ridge, and down on the gravel access road, Mr. Gable’s red truck rumbled past, the old man giving a quick honk and a wave as he headed back toward his farm. Everything was quiet. Everything was right where it needed to be.

I rested my hand against my stomach, feeling the subtle, quiet reality of a new chapter starting for us on the farm, knowing we were completely ready for whatever came next.

Talon's POV

The transition from mid-summer into early August brought a heavy, sun-baked heat to Oakridge. Morning mists rolled lazily across the lower pastures, burning off quickly under a clear sky. It was a Thursday morning, just past seven o'clock. I was standing at the workbench down in the main barn shop, the morning light pouring through the high windows and illuminating the sawdust in the air.

My city commutes were down to two days a month max. The rest of my work was handled through emails and brief calls from the house office. Sitting in front of corporate financial decks felt like a past life, and the work that actually mattered was right here on the property. I picked up a block of seasoned white oak, running my thumb along the smooth edge to check the grain. The barn door clicked open behind me, and Marcus walked in carrying a clipboard with the weekly property notes.

"Morning, boss," Marcus said, stopping near the door. "Irrigation lines on the south ridge are holding steady, and the solar array is charging the backup batteries fine."
"Good work, Marcus," I said, setting the wood down on the workbench and wiping my hands on a shop towel. "Any issues with the perimeter sensors after yesterday's thunderstorm?"
"None," Marcus said. "Though I did notice you've been spending a lot of hours out here in the shop lately. Building something new?"
I looked down at the workbench where several hand-drawn sketches were laid out next to my tools, plans for a handcrafted white oak crib built with solid joinery.

I hadn't told Marcus yet, but Kira and I had confirmed it two days ago in the kitchen. We were having a baby next spring.
"Working on a nursery project," I told him with a quick smile. "Need to make sure the frame and side rails are solid before spring."