Anvil novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Uncle Rhett

"One second, Rhett," I called. "I'm not dressed."

Tucker had the lid down and the box in his arms before I finished the sentence.

He mouthed a single word at me: cellar.

I pointed to the pantry door, and he was gone, and I heard the cellar stairs take his weight without a creak.

I slid the black notebook into the flour bin under the sink and pushed the bag over it.

Then I took one breath and opened the front door.

Rhett stood on my porch with a cardboard tray of coffees and a white bakery bag.

He had his cut on over a clean gray shirt, and he was smiling the same smile he had worn at Danny's funeral.

"There she is," he said. "I brought the good donuts."

"You're up early."

"Club business. Dutch has me running errands before the sun's up." He held up his key. "Your lock's jammed, honey. I'd have a look at it."

"It's not jammed. I changed the locks."

"Did you?"

"Sunday. After that Dogs rider sat outside my house."

I said it flat, the way Tucker had told me to.

Rattled, not hunting.

"Smart," Rhett said, nodding slowly. "That's smart, Liz. I should have thought of it myself."

He looked down at the key in his hand and put it in his pocket.

"I'll get a new one cut for the ring," he said. "Whenever you've got a spare."

"I'm out of spares."

"Then I'll wait."

He walked past me into the kitchen without waiting to be asked.

I had not said it.

Tucker stood at the stove with his back to us, pouring coffee into a mug.

He had come up from the cellar and washed his hands, and his cut was nowhere in sight.

"Morning, brother," Rhett said.

"Rhett."

"You're up early, too."

"The couch is short," Tucker said. "I don't sleep much on it."

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