Chapter 119: She Had Already Said No With Her Mouth

The gate notice was dated yesterday. Dove asked the watchman who had posted it, then waited while he fetched the driver who’d brought the report. The western road had reopened along its raised shoulder. Caldwell’s route warning was older than the carrier’s information.

Caldwell’s news was old, not proof he’d lied. Dove circled the driver’s confirmed turn on her map. She’d rather check twice than spend another night somewhere his son could find her.

On Day Fifty-Nine, she washed before dressing and ate two thick breakfast sandwiches while the men finished loading. Sprout supplied four family packs of wet wipes. Three needed buyers, and the travel wash kit on the reward shelf could wait. She wanted the stock settled before Hollis found another reason to come looking for her.

The gate workers traded oats, towels, and canned chicken for three packs, plus fruit for two owned drink bottles. She stored the goods by touch and paid four Favor to keep the last pack. Sprout settled the sales, exercise, and Favor rewards while she helped finish packing. Everything she could carry was coming with her. She didn’t intend to need a reason to return.

One last sweep found Thorne’s sock and her comb. Sprout offered a box of prank mice from its shop when she muttered about leaving Hollis something to remember her by.

"Are they alive?" she asked.

"Product details are available before purchase."

"You’re supposed to be the product details." She closed it without buying. Tempting, but she wasn’t paying to give the kitchen workers another mess. She packed her comb, handed Caldwell the key, and went outside.

Edrik waited beside their pickup near the rear gate. Thorne was finishing with Caldwell at the office when Hollis stepped out from the repair bay and blocked Dove’s path.

"You’re leaving because of him," he said, glancing toward Edrik.

Dove kept walking until the pickup was within a few steps. "I’m leaving because you keep making my decisions about yourself."

"You’d be safer here." He caught her around the waist before she could pass. "You don’t know what’s out there."

Her stomach dropped. For one awful second she was back to being a smaller body in somebody else’s hands, with all her clever answers arriving too late to help.

"Let go," she snapped, bracing her hands against him. Hollis smiled as though she had raised her voice for an audience. His fingers tightened, and Dove stopped trying to pull straight backward. She put her foot where Edrik had taught her, turned enough to make space, and drove her knee upward.

The sound Hollis made was deeply satisfying and not nearly enough to stop her hands shaking.

Thorne reached them as Hollis folded and pulled Dove clear. Edrik caught the gorilla before he could straighten, drove him against the repair-bay wall, and punched him hard enough that his knees gave way. Two workers started forward, then stopped when the bear looked at them.

Dove turned toward Thorne and concentrated on getting her breath back. She’d said no before. She’d said it kindly, angrily, and in front of witnesses. Hollis could learn the version Edrik was offering.

Caldwell rushed from the office, talking about a misunderstanding. Dove looked back at him. "I told him to let go. He didn’t. Don’t make me explain what that means."

Edrik released Hollis alive and groaning beside the wall. Dove waited until the bear reached her before touching his arm. "Good boy. Now take me somewhere I actually want to be."

He smoothed a hand over her hair, his expression changing just for her. "Good girl. You remembered your footing."

Heat rushed into her face before she could stop it. That wasn’t fair. Thorne smiled at her blush, but kept his arm around her until her breathing eased. Dove pointed at the truck. "Neither of you is allowed to be pleased with yourselves until we’re out of this parking lot."

Thorne helped her into the passenger seat while Edrik washed his knuckles with a little water from their bottle. Once her belt was fastened, they drove through the gate with their crates and cart secured behind them. Nobody asked her to stay and hear Hollis apologize.

They drove west along the reopened road, with runoff filling both ditches.

At an empty picnic area above the drainage line, they stopped for lunch. Its vacant maintenance cupboard held unopened trash liners and two bottles of dish soap. Dove stored them after Edrik checked the restroom building, then asked Thorne to check the higher shelf too. Being upset hadn’t made useful things stop being useful. Thorne brought lunch from the truck while Edrik checked the tree line. Dove sat at a concrete table and pressed her palms flat until the shaking eased.

Her knee had landed where she’d aimed, but she still remembered his fingers tightening. Dove wanted to be proud of herself without feeling that too. She asked Sprout whether the manual would make her stop freezing when somebody grabbed her.

"The listed purchase supports practiced footwork. Emotional outcomes cannot be guaranteed."

For once, she preferred the unhelpful truth to a sales pitch. She would keep learning. Next time, she wanted her feet to move sooner.

Thorne sat beside her with chicken sandwiches, fruit, and a big bowl of rice and beans. Edrik put water within reach and didn’t tell her she should have moved sooner.

"You found the space," he said. "That’s what we practiced."

"He was surprised."

"Good. You weren’t trying to impress him."

Dove laughed once, a little unsteadily, then took a bite because she was hungry and furious and not about to let Hollis ruin lunch too. Both men stayed close while she ate.

In the restroom she checked her waist. No injury, just the awful memory of hands she’d refused. Thorne waited outside while she washed and took a minute to herself.

When she came out, Edrik offered her the clean towel without asking for an account. She took it and stood beside him until the unpleasant feeling loosened.

"I still want to sell things," she said. "I don’t want this to make me hide every time somebody new walks up."

"Then keep selling," he said. "I’ll stay beside you. Thorne will too. That bastard doesn’t get to decide what you do next."

Dove dried her hands, then rested her forehead against Edrik’s chest. He held her gently and waited until she was ready to lift her head. She stayed until she felt ready to move.

Before getting in the truck, she kissed her husband and caught Edrik’s sleeve. "Thank you for listening. Both of you."

The bear touched her hand, steady as ever. "Keep telling us what you want."

By late afternoon they reached the next narrow approach. An old delivery van stood sideways across the road where a deep ditch and a steep bank left no room for their pickup. Its windows were dark, and fresh tire marks cut through the drying mud.

Edrik stopped before the bend exposed the cab fully, then reversed behind the bank. Thorne watched the van through the windshield. A shape moved beyond its rear doors, then disappeared before Dove could identify it.