Married to My Ex's Uncle novel · Chapter 4 of 32

Chapter 4: The Flatbed

On Monday morning Greta drove the yard truck up the Hollenbeck shore road with a mattress roped in the back.

The old mechanic rode beside her with a coffee can of drill bits on his knees.

The apprentice rode in the bed with the mattress, holding it down in the drizzle and singing.

"You're sure about this?" the old mechanic said.

"No."

"Good. Your father was never sure about anything either. Married your mother in eleven days."

"That's not true."

"Twelve. I was there."

Lukas was outside the boathouse splitting kindling under the eave.

An old black dog with a gray muzzle lay on the step and thumped its tail at the truck.

Greta got out and walked straight up to him.

"Every month," she said. "For nine years."

He set the axe down.

"Nils told you."

"Nils told me. You didn't. You stood on that dock Saturday and let me shake your hand, and you didn't say a word."

"No."

"Why not?"

He wiped his palms on his jeans.

"Because he asked me not to," Lukas said. "The first year. He said you carry enough."

Greta looked away at the water.

That sounded exactly like her brother.

"What do you even talk about?" she said. "Once a month for nine years."

"Boats, mostly. Baseball. He thinks the Brewers are a moral failing."

"They are."

"He's teaching me to like chess. It isn't working."

She laughed, once, and was angry at herself for it.

"Anything else you're not telling me?"

He looked at her steadily.

"Yes," he said. "There'll always be things I can't tell you. I'd rather say that now than have you find it out."

She opened her mouth to ask what things.

Then a diesel engine came grinding down the shore road.

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