Traded for Nine Boats, I Walked In Pregnant and Ran Their House novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: The Tub
The tub in the second-floor bathroom stood on four brass claws.
It was big enough for two grown people if one of them was pregnant and the other did not mind.
Alex did not mind.
He sat at the back of it with his knees up and the water at his chest.
I sat between his legs with my back against him.
Steam rose to the ceiling.
The window over the tub was fogged white, and the radiator ticked.
It was the second week of December, and the whole house smelled of cinnamon from the kitchen.
He was washing my hair.
He had undone my braid and poured the shampoo into his palm.
He worked it through my hair slowly, from the roots to the ends.
His fingers moved along my scalp in small circles.
I let my head fall back into his hands.
"That is unfair," I said.
"What is?"
"Nobody has washed my hair since I was twelve."
His hands stilled.
"Who did?"
"My mother."
He started again, more gently.
I closed my eyes and listened to the water.
"She died on the fuel dock," I said.
I had never said it aloud in that order.
"It was a Tuesday in February.
"She was coiling a line.
"She sat down on a crate, and she said she felt strange, and she didn't get up."
The water lapped.
"I was twelve.
"I was in the office doing homework.
"I saw her through the window, and I thought she was resting."
His arms came around me from behind and held me against his chest.
He did not say he was sorry.
He did not say anything.
He put his chin on my shoulder and rocked me, once, in the water.
"My father was a different man before," I said.
"He sang on the boats.
"He taught me bowlines and gave me the nickname.
"After that, he stopped touching people.
"He counted the boats instead."
"And you counted them with him."
"I counted them for him," I said.
"I'm still counting."
He turned his head and pressed his mouth to my wet temple.
"Ari," he said.
It was the third time he'd said it that week.
Each time, it still did something to my knees.
I turned in his arms and rose onto my knees in the water, facing him.
The water slid down my body.
His eyes dropped to my breasts and my stomach and stayed there.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of Traded for Nine Boats, I Walked In Pregnant and Ran Their House are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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