Next Time Away novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Town's Word

Jonas came in from the truck at dawn with frost in his beard.

I had not slept, and he had not either.

"He said no," I told him.

"I heard the taxi." He looked at the empty chair across from mine. "He'll say no on the day, too."

"Not if the room is bigger than his fear."

"Tove."

"I'm not recording him. I'm not setting a trap. If Soren says it, he says it because I asked him in front of his own mother, and nobody can say I tricked him."

Jonas rubbed his jaw.

"People will say you did anyway."

"Then people will have to explain why I asked such a short question."

He almost smiled.

I had been thinking about his mouth since the shed, and I made myself look at the coffee instead.

"I need to know who still talks to you," I said. "Who would stand up in that hall, if it came to it."

"Nobody."

"Name three."

"Nobody, Tove. I mean it. Come see."

So I put Greta in the carrier, and he drove us into town in his dark green truck, with his scarred hand low on the wheel and his eyes on the road.

He drove well.

I watched his hand on the gearshift for four blocks, until he said, "What?" and I said, "Nothing," and looked out my window.

The first stop was the bait shop on the harbor road.

Jonas had mended the owner's skiff every spring for eleven years.

The owner saw us come in, and he found something to do in the back.

His wife stood behind the register and looked at the counter.

"Two dozen leeches," Jonas said.

"Not to you."

There was a bucket of leeches on the counter between them.

← Chapter 13 · All chapters · Chapter 15 →

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