Chapter 112: She Wasn’t Calling That an Accident

Dove swallowed and caught Edrik’s wrist before he could close the space between them. "Yes, but let me. I’ve been thinking about this for ages, and I’m not wasting all that worrying by chickening out now."

Edrik’s smile deepened, and he stayed seated while Dove pushed her chair closer. One leg caught on the floor. She swore under her breath, shoved it past the crack, and pointed at him when he looked ready to laugh. "You saw nothing. I’m being very smooth right now." "Take your time," he said.

She touched his face, feeling the roughness along his jaw. He turned slightly into her hand, and the joke she’d planned disappeared. This was the man who’d remembered her candy and stayed for dinner when she’d finally asked properly. Dove leaned across the space she’d left between them and kissed him before she lost her nerve.

His hand closed over hers on his cheek. When she drew back, his eyes opened slowly. Dove stayed close enough that his next breath brushed her mouth, suddenly aware she wanted to try that again.

"Well, that was less embarrassing than I expected," she said, still holding his face. Edrik’s thumb moved over her knuckles. He looked so pleased that she wanted to kiss the expression right off him, which would probably make it worse. "Don’t start looking smug," she added. "I’m trying to have a moment here."

"I could help you have another one," he offered. Dove laughed and let her hand fall to his shoulder. Outside, Thorne was still working on the shutter. They had time, and she wasn’t quite ready to move away.

She left her hand in his until Thorne’s footsteps crossed the apron. She wanted Edrik to see she wasn’t pulling away just because someone might notice.

Thorne returned a few minutes later. Dove stood to meet him, kissed him too, and told him she wanted to sit between them for dinner. He looked at Edrik, then at her pleased, embarrassed face, and pulled out her chair without making her explain the moment to an audience.

Only after they had eaten did Sprout report twelve Favor from Edrik’s delight and affection. Had it counted this on top of the daily reward? Sprout said these were coins from his real reaction, not another reward for finishing the target. Fine, then it could stop talking. She wanted to think about his mouth in peace.

Before bed, she told Edrik he didn’t need to make himself scarce tomorrow. "I know what I did," she added. He smiled and said he hadn’t planned to. Dove took that answer back to Thorne, who made room beneath their blanket and kissed her hair.

On Day Fifty-Two, she washed, packed, and settled their last work agreement with the salvage seller. Sprout delivered six packs of kitchen sponges and wanted four sold. A folding drying basket appeared on the reward shelf. Dove looked at it, then at the bags already waiting by the door. She closed the offer.

The seller’s workers bought four packs for soap, oats, and wrapped cheese. Dove stored those trades and returned the last two packs instead of paying to keep something they already had. The two-normal-coin fee mattered less than saving her Favor. Sprout settled the sales and exercise rewards after taking its fee.

Edrik strapped the folded cart and their crates into the pickup bed. Thorne sat behind Dove while Edrik drove the higher road, slowing for potholes and stopping to inspect water before crossing it. On either side, bare yards and storefronts emerged from dirty snow. It looked painfully like a place where people ought to be driving to work.

At an abandoned roadside market, they stopped long enough to find sealed chips and a dry stack of towels. Dove stored them, ate chips in her actual seat, and declared that civilization might yet recover. Thorne reached forward for her hand whenever the truck stopped.

The fresh Favor and mate extra arrived before the truck stop. Sprout suggested further opportunities. She suggested it find a hobby that didn’t involve watching her kiss people. Edrik caught her smiling, and she looked away.

The stop stood at a paved junction beyond the higher road, its faded diner sign visible above a row of parked trucks. The diner faced the road. Two repair bays stood behind it, and a low row of rental rooms enclosed a small rear yard. A water tank rose beside the kitchen wall, with a guarded gate wide enough for the carts.

Men turned when Thorne opened the passenger door and helped her down near the entrance. One forgot the crate in his arms until his companion kicked his boot. Another drew in a breath and stared at her like the smell of warm sugar had acquired a waist and started asking about vacancies.

Dove squeezed Thorne’s hand. "Room first. Staring contest later."

Edrik parked the pickup beside the repair bays, where they could unload without blocking the gate. Quarry’s kitchen owner met them by the diner, pleased they had arrived within the four days agreed at the auto shop. Dove sold the agreed cans, rice, and beans for owned food, clean bedding, and credit toward two nights in the rear rooms. They unloaded their folding cot and personal bundles into the yard before returning the borrowed cart.

The keeper released their pledged tools, and Thorne carried their belongings to the rooms in two trips.

The keeper introduced himself as Caldwell, a broad gorilla beastman with gray at his temples. His son stepped out of the diner carrying a necklace before his father finished showing Dove the room choices.

"Hollis," the younger man said, offering it directly to her. He had a silver streak through his dark hair, thick shoulders, and the confidence of somebody rarely told to move out of a doorway. "You can stay in the larger room. I’ll have it made ready."

Dove kept her hands at her sides. "I haven’t chosen one yet."

"I chose the best." "For yourself, I hope. I’m still looking."

Thorne came to stand beside her, and Edrik stayed by the pickup without leaving her line of sight. Hollis noticed both men and smiled more broadly, as though competition improved his chances.

Dove chose a two-part room at the quieter end of the row. Its outer door opened into a narrow sitting area with a cot; an inside door led to a bedroom with one large bed and a window facing the fenced service gap. Edrik accepted the cot. Thorne put their bags beside the bed while she asked Caldwell where they could get supper.

Hollis followed them to the threshold with the necklace still in his hand.

"No," Dove said before he offered it again. "Not the gift, not the private tour, and not whatever you think comes afterward."

His eyes moved from her blonde ears to the fitted sweater beneath her coat. "You’ll change your mind after you see what I can give you."

Dove took the key from his father instead. Hollis was still smiling when she shut the door between them.