The Jealousy Game novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Rule Two

Casper's POV

She came to the shed at midnight on Friday, in her coat, with flour still on her sleeves.

I was on the floor with a cedar plank across my knees, trying to bevel an edge I had already beveled twice.

I heard her boots on the dock and did not stand up, because I did not trust my legs.

"Don't say anything," Lena said from the doorway.

"Okay."

"I changed the lock and it's still the first thing I check. Every night. I stood in my kitchen for an hour looking at the new bolt."

"Okay."

"I don't want to be there."

I put the plank down.

"The cot's behind the stove," I said. "I sleep on it when I run late. It's clean."

She looked at the cot and at me.

"Rule two," she said.

"I'll be on the other side of the hull."

"Fine."

She took off her shoes and lay down on top of the blanket in her coat.

I turned the work light low and went back to my plank, and I did not look at her once for a full hour.

I worked the plane down the grain instead.

At one o'clock her breathing changed.

I put the plane down and stood in the middle of the shed with my hands hanging.

She was asleep on her side, with her knees drawn up and one hand under her cheek.

There was a smear of flour along her jaw.

I had known that jaw since she was six years old and missing her front teeth.

I took my canvas jacket off the hook and crossed the floor as quietly as I could and laid it over her shoulders.

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