Chapter 164: She Wanted the Room With Both Husbands

Nolan set the cooling unit on a workbench in the sound part of the service building. Dove stayed where she could see the test without standing in his way, because wanting an appliance did not make hovering a useful skill.

He checked the cord, compared the fan with a spare, and explained that a repair tag described an old problem, not a complete report of its current condition. If it started, they still needed to let it run before deciding it worked properly.

"I appreciate how committed everyone is to making me wait," Dove said.

Edrik touched the back of her chair. "I can distract you."

"You’d enjoy that far too much."

"You noticed."

She turned back to Nolan before her face gave her away completely. Thorne was smiling into the paperwork, which was unhelpful but at least made him look more like himself.

While the unit ran, Dove negotiated for the four sound carriers. Nolan wanted tested lights, useful cloth, and some of the food supplies they had brought. She showed him what was available without offering the household’s entire load just to finish the bargain quickly.

Iris’s order did not make the carriers free. Dove would acquire them through this trade and receive the separate agreed payment from Iris after delivery. Writing it down kept everybody from developing convenient new memories later.

She kept enough shade cloth for their own window and yard. The hotel could have the rest at a fair price, but she was not returning home with money and another bedroom that felt like an oven.

With Nolan’s permission, Dove opened her storefront against the dining-room wall, clear of the doors. She taught the cook to use the payment tray. The cards dispensed for approved trades while she inspected the hotel goods, leaving her free to watch him discover he hadn’t broken anything.

Sprout offered to announce each sale.

"Please don’t. I can hear the hatch. Tell me when we reach the target, then let me enjoy not doing everything myself."

Five required sales came quickly, then the remaining packs went through small trades with residents who wanted their own. Nobody had to share one deck across twenty-three bored men. By the time the stock was gone, Dove had useful food, soap, and small household goods rather than a pile of favors she would later be expected to return.

A wolf brought a little wooden fox to the table. Its ears were uneven and its tail much too large, but somebody had put care into the face. Dove picked it up before noticing how closely he watched her reaction.

"It’s lovely," she said. "But if this is a courtship gift, I can’t accept it that way."

He looked disappointed, then asked whether she would trade for it. She offered a sealed packet of the gum she had salvaged, waited for him to agree, and kept the fox because she liked it. He took the gum and put away his carving knife. Dove tucked the fox into her bag; for once she had bought something simply because she wanted to look at it.

Edrik examined the carving when she showed him. "He’s given it more tail than body."

"You’re just jealous because Thorne has the better tail."

"I have other strengths."

"I’m aware. You’ve been explaining them with your face all afternoon."

Thorne laughed and brushed his own tail against her leg as he passed, making her nearly drop the fox. Dove pointed after him and promised consequences that neither husband appeared especially worried about.

By late afternoon, rain had softened the lower section of the access road. Nolan recommended waiting until morning, and the cooling unit still needed a longer test. Dove checked the ground herself from the parking area before deciding the delay made sense. She wanted the goods, but she wanted them in a truck that stayed upright.

Dove sent a short message back through Nolan’s working radio contact so the Base B neighbor knew they would be delayed. Their rented shop stayed closed, and nobody needed to invent a disappearance because they had chosen a safe night’s sleep.

The room he offered was on the ground floor of the occupied wing. From reception, they would turn left before the dining room and follow a short corridor. Inside were two beds, a private bathroom, and a lake-facing window above a small raised patio. Their pickup stayed visible from the service end of the hall, not mysteriously parked beneath the bedroom window.

Dove checked the bathroom, the screen, and the floor space before smiling. No stock against the pillows. No customer counter on the other side of a curtain. A shower she could use without moving three crates first.

"One room for all three," she told Nolan. "If either of them asks about sleeping outside the door, ignore him."

Edrik’s expression turned amused. Thorne looked at her with the warmth that made ordinary decisions feel unexpectedly intimate.

She packed the empty storefront, and they paid for the room through agreed goods, carried in their overnight bags, and left the heavier load secured with Nolan’s knowledge. Sprout settled the sales and exercise rewards at 1,594 normal coins and 106 Favor. Dove closed the ledger before it found another reason to discuss work.

She put the carved fox on the bedside table and stood at the window. The lake stretched beyond the lawn, but the dock sat crooked above exposed mud. A dark line on its posts showed where the water had been higher.

"Wasn’t it raining last night?" she asked.

Thorne came beside her. "It was."

She made a note to ask Nolan rather than invent an answer from one window. Then she shut the screen against the mosquitoes and turned back to the room she had deliberately chosen.

Edrik was setting his bag beside the second bed, leaving space between himself and the little evening she had pictured. Dove caught his sleeve before he could start arranging a guard shift nobody had requested.

"I booked one room because I wanted both of you here," she said. "Please don’t make me explain the attractive part of that sentence."

His eyes held hers while Thorne’s hand settled at her waist. The day’s trading suddenly seemed much easier than saying what she wanted next.