Chapter 19: Luther's POV

Luther's POV

The day before the launch I still had the yellow hat in my head.

I still had Emmy's face when she turned the card over.

So I carried folding chairs into the downtown library for a man who did not know I was the one carrying them.

The events staff were short on hands, and I owed someone a favor.

I wore my work jacket, and nobody looked at my face.

The job gave me the stage.

It was a low platform at the end of the big reading room, with a podium in the middle.

A cream banner behind it said The Allowance in gold.

There was one stool for a guest, set at a slight angle, so the camera would catch her face.

I stood and looked at that stool for a long time.

I knew what I wanted to do.

I wanted to be on that stage when she came up the steps, with my hand at the small of her back.

I wanted to be the wall behind her.

It was the same want I'd had at a hospital bed three years ago.

I had wanted to stand between a person and all of it, and it hadn't saved anyone then either.

"Mr. Rask."

Christian stood at the end of the loading dock, in his gray overcoat, with his hands in his pockets.

He had known all along who was carrying the chairs.

"Dr. Pelham."

"You're good with your hands. I noticed it in the kitchen." He glanced at the stool. "May I ask you something, as one adult to another?"

"You can ask."

"How long do you think this lasts?"

I put down the chair I was holding.

"She's brave this month," Christian said. "She's angry, and anger is a high."

"Go on."

"You and I both know what happens when it wears off.

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