“I should get going pretty soon. You know, the drive back down the mountain.”
He doesn’t reply.
“Or I should study.”
“Right.” He looks at my knots. “Those look good.”
“They’re knots,” I say. “They do the job or they don’t.”
“Right,” he says again.
The space between us gets that electric hum we feel when we’re pretending we’re not thinking about last night.
We finish our breakfast.
Thirty-Two
Henry
I’m clearing the breakfast dishes when Tabitha’s phone buzzes.
“Angie again?” I ask.
She flips the screen over. “No.”
“Spam?” I ask too fast.
“Probably,” she says without looking at me.
Buzz. Again.
My jaw clicks. Zach lifts his head. I go to the sink and rinse the dishes.
“Jesus.” I set down a mug harder than I mean to. “Who is it?”
She sighs. “Does it matter? I’m not going to reply.”
“Him.” All I need to say.
Everything in me goes tight. The rescuer. Right. The man who found her, who saw her shaking and put his coat around her shoulders and got to be the hero. My stomach turns over, hot and stupid.
“What does he want?” I ask like it’s my business.
“He’s just checking in,” she says.
“Checking in,” I echo, and I hate how it sounds in my mouth.
She flips the phone fully face down. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That tone. Like I’m sneaking around with some other guy while we’re…” She gestures between us. “Whatever this is.”
I laugh once. “Fine.”
“I’m here, aren’t I? With you.”
“Because my sister booked you a relaxing weekend,” I snap. “You wouldn’t have come for me.”
