Chapter 144: Good Boys Got Spoiled

They drove the first load home before touching the fan pallet. Both carts rode in the pickup bed, tied around the recovered stock. In the rear yard, the men unloaded while Dove opened the shop long enough to put the arrivals behind the counter. The fans would fill the next load.

She had promised to open that afternoon, but the fans needed another trip. Anyone waiting deserved to know she wasn’t hiding behind the curtain ignoring them. A small sign said they would open after the second load. Then they ate more of the bread, drank water, and went back together rather than leaving one man to protect an empty till.

At the outdoor store, the pallet held twelve boxed fans. Eight ran from ordinary wall power. Four used batteries in sizes listed on the cartons. Dove checked the boxes, took the separate sealed battery packs beside them, and left two wall-powered fans with cracked cases.

Ten sound-looking fans still needed testing. She didn’t call them working stock because the packaging was pretty. They wheeled the fans, camp chairs, water jugs, and remaining clothes to the pickup, loading heavier boxes first. Dove stored light bundles in several small rounds, then let Edrik lift a crate while she rested.

"I could get very lazy married to you two," she said from her chair.

Thorne set another box beside the cart. "You’ve spent all day telling us what to carry."

"Exactly. I’m exhausted. Somebody should praise me."

He leaned down until she could reach his ear. Dove scratched it, smiling when his eyes half closed. "Good boy. Excellent taste in wives."

Edrik watched with a look that made her laugh. When he brought the next load, she straightened his twisted collar and kissed the rough corner of his jaw. He stayed bent toward her after she finished, openly waiting.

"That was your reward," she told him.

"I wasn’t complaining about it."

She kissed him again because she wanted to, then sent him back for the remaining tools before the shop became somebody else’s. Sprout quietly finished the day’s twelve-Favor target. Eight more qualifying reactions had gathered through their teasing and affection, and the single mate extra brought the balance to seven hundred seventy-nine after the morning’s retained buns.

The work paid, but the training manual still needed Favor, not the normal coins she’d earned from sales. Dove closed it and checked the carts instead. Having things she could sell was still progress. Thorne tucked the snack bag beside her hand before they moved, and she caught herself smiling at a future that involved coming home to this much stock.

The storage task was long finished. Their pickup came home full after they transferred the boxes from the carts and tied everything down. Dove had recovered her lunch, fans to sell, chairs to sit in, and clothes that weren’t held together by stubbornness. That felt better than receiving congratulations from a voice that never had to carry anything.

At the shop, they tested each wall-powered fan from the working outlets, then tried the battery models with correctly labeled cells. One wall fan failed and went into a repair box, clearly marked. They had nine working units: five for wall power and four battery models. Dove kept one battery fan for their room, set two aside for testing over several hours, and priced the others.

She marked every tested carton herself, then let Thorne stack them where buyers could read the power requirements. She used their newly recovered folding table near the window to show the smaller stock. The counter stayed clear enough to serve customers without stacking boxes against her stomach. Thorne mounted a shelf with sound brackets; Edrik held it steady while she checked the height herself.

"Lower," she said. "I’m not climbing my husband every time somebody needs soap."

"You could," Thorne offered.

"After closing. Try to think about the customers."

Edrik laughed behind his hand. Thorne lowered the shelf, looking pleased enough that she doubted he was thinking about customers at all.

The first fan sold to a restaurant worker whose kitchen stayed hot even with the back door open. He brought flour, jars of sauce, and fresh eggs as payment. Dove put the eggs in the day’s food basket and asked Thorne whether they could have some with dinner. She wanted to enjoy what the work had bought.

A second buyer chose a battery model and asked whether she came with delivery. Dove told him her husband could demonstrate how far away he wanted the man to stand. Thorne said nothing. He simply moved beside her, and the customer found the fan much more interesting.

Once the man left, Dove caught Thorne’s hand beneath the counter. "You were very patient."

"He kept looking down your shirt."

"I noticed. I also noticed you waited for my answer. I like that."

His thumb brushed her fingers, and she squeezed back before the next customer arrived. He stayed beside her for the next sale, their hands still linked below the counter. She could handle a customer and enjoy having her husband close; neither had to ruin the other.

They ate dinner in the rear room with the new fan turning toward the bed. Rice bowls held meat, vegetables, and enough sauce to keep the men quiet for at least their first few bites. Dove put her bare feet on Thorne’s lap after eating and passed Edrik the list of stock they still had to price.

He set it on the table. "You can finish that tomorrow."

"You sound suspiciously like you’re after my attention."

"I am."

She liked him best when he stopped pretending anything else. Dove reached for his hand and let the lists wait until a knock sounded at the front door before closing time.

A wholesaler stood outside, pointing at the fans in the window. He wanted all the remaining working units and first claim on anything she brought back from future trips. He offered food, credit at a nearby store, and enough trade stock to fill a shelf.

Dove listened through the price without interrupting. Then he said the word exclusive, and she put her hand flat on the counter. She had worked too hard to get this shop to let its first large customer decide what came through it.