Dumping My Ex For His Uncle novel · Chapter 30 of 32

Chapter 30: The Resolute

Bram looked over Tilly's head at me.

I didn't help him.

I wanted to see what he'd do.

He crouched down to her height, slow, in the middle of the hallway, in front of everybody.

"That's not a question you ask a man in a courthouse," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because he wants to ask it himself. Somewhere better. With a plan."

Tilly narrowed her eyes.

"Do you have a plan?"

"I'm working on one."

"Can I be in it?"

He held out his little finger.

She hooked it, solemn as a judge.

My mate said "Oh, for God's sake" and started crying again.

Then it was spring.

Not all at once.

Baltimore never does anything all at once.

The ice went off the edges of the harbor in February.

In March, the state's highest court disbarred Ellis Clagett.

My mate taped the article to the Resolute's fridge until the deckhand made her take it down, because it ruined his appetite.

In April, the trees on Thames Street came out green, and the bars put their tables on the cobblestones, and the shop got busy.

Busier than it had ever been.

Half of Baltimore had seen the gala video.

The other half had seen the counter photo.

People came in and asked for "the guy from the gala."

Then they sat in the one chair for three hours and told Bram about their own families.

He had a waiting list for the first time in his life.

He hated it.

He was secretly thrilled.

Our days had a shape now.

I drove Tilly to school at 7:40, her rope in her backpack, counting both ways three times at every crosswalk.

I ran the Resolute on nights.

Bram picked Tilly up at three, and she did her homework at the shop counter and quality-controlled every crab that came through the door.

On Sundays, he made potato pancakes and burned the grilled cheese.

In March, Tilly drew a crab for him in purple marker.

It had eight legs and two claws and a hard hat.

"It's me," she said. "Working."

Bram looked at it for a long time.

The next Tuesday, after the card game, he sat in his own chair.

The shaved-head artist put it on the inside of his left forearm.

Purple.

Hard hat and all.

Exactly the way she'd drawn it, wobbly legs included.

Tilly watched every minute with her nose two inches from the needle.

"You can't ever take it off now," she told him.

"That's the point," he said.

← Chapter 29 · All chapters · Chapter 31 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend