Chapter 10: Forty-One

Gwendolyn's POV

"She said to ask you what time it is," Orin said.

It was eight in the morning, and he was standing in Maeve's kitchen with his hat in his hands.

He had not sat down, and he had not let go of the hat.

"She took a picture of you," I said.

"She can keep it."

"She doesn't mean anything by the question. She wants you to think I'm lying about being late."

"Maybe." He looked at the wall clock over the stove. "That says eight oh nine."

I looked at my phone.

It said 8:02.

The silence in the kitchen was so complete that I heard the refrigerator hum.

"The microwave says eight oh nine too," Orin said.

"Phones drift."

"Not seven minutes."

I did not say anything.

I put my phone down on the table and picked up the watch Leander had given me for our second anniversary.

It was thin and gold, with a pretty face, and it synced to my phone every night.

It said 8:02.

Maeve's watch, on my other wrist, said 8:09.

"I'll fix it," I said, and reached for the settings.

Orin put out his hand, and I gave him the phone.

His thumbs were too big for the screen, and he went slowly.

He tapped into the clock settings and turned on automatic time.

The phone buzzed, and a small gray box came up on the screen.

He read it twice, and he did not say anything.

Then he turned the phone around and held it out to me.

This device is managed by L. Fairchild. Time and date settings are locked.

I read it, and the kitchen went very quiet.

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