The Kitchen Renovation Crew Stayed Three Weeks Longer Than the Quote novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: Two Hands
Kou's POV
I stood behind her chair with my hands at my sides, because I did not know yet where they were allowed to go.
Her hair smelled of the roast and of her shampoo.
From above I could see the silver at her left temple.
Nobody at the table spoke.
"You looked at Tanner first," I said.
I had not planned to say it.
It came out flat and exact, as a measurement does.
Britta turned in her chair and looked up at me.
"He was sitting on my right," she said.
"Mikko was on your left, and I was across. You started on the right."
"Kou."
"I'm not angry," I said. "I'm measuring."
Mikko laughed, one short note, and put his hand over his mouth.
"Nobody ever starts on the left," he said. "I've been getting started with last my whole life. I'm the left."
It was nearly a joke, and no one laughed, and he heard that.
He stood and pushed his chair in and squared it against the table, which is my habit and not his.
"I'm going to go out back and have my feelings in the yard," he said. "Alone, like a professional. Brit, the roast was incredible. I'll be mad at everybody in a minute, but the roast was incredible."
He went out through the mudroom, and the screen door clapped behind him.
Tanner got up.
He had to take a step back to clear the chair, because the dining room was never built for him.
"Kou," he said. "If you want me gone, I'll go. It's your say."
I thought about it properly, because I think about everything properly.
I had been sure for a week that I was the only one.
Now I knew I was one of three, and the other two were bigger and louder than I was.
"Stay," I said. "I would rather not be the reason you left. I already stalled your cabinets in my head."
"They were my cabinets," Tanner said.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Kitchen Renovation Crew Stayed Three Weeks Longer Than the Quote are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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