Chapter 177: There Was Only One Bed, Obviously

Dove climbed the two steps into the motorhome and stopped beside the little kitchen. A counter ran along the right wall, with cupboards above and storage below. Across from it, a narrow table stood between two padded seats. The bathroom was tucked behind a folding door, and a fixed bed filled the rear beneath a wide window.

She could see the whole place from the door, and somehow that made her want it more. No hallway full of strangers, no shared sink with somebody else’s hair in it, just a tiny home she could take with her.

Thorne came up behind her without crowding the doorway. Edrik stayed outside until she moved farther in, then entered and immediately looked at the places a man his size would bang his head.

"You’re thinking about it," she told him.

"I’m measuring my future injuries," he said, pointing out the cupboard above the seat he would have to use.

She laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. The mattress needed replacing or thoroughly dealing with before she would sleep on it, and the space was too short to pretend both men could stretch out comfortably without planning. That was useful. A flaw she could see kept the wanting from running ahead of her brain.

The dealer remained outside the open door, answering questions. The engine had run recently, but he wouldn’t guarantee a long trip without inspection. Fuel cost something. Batteries needed checking. Water tanks required proper cleaning. The small refrigerator worked only when supplied correctly, and the roof had leaked before the replaced window was fitted.

Dove wrote those things down instead of hearing only the word refrigerator.

Thorne pressed a hand against the side of the rear window. "We need someone who knows these before deciding."

"I know. I’m allowed to sit on the terrible mattress and want it for a minute."

He sat beside her carefully. "You are."

Edrik stood in the narrow aisle, looking at the table. "We’d need different sleeping space if we used it often."

"You could sleep outside and guard my expensive choices."

"You’d miss me before morning," he said. "Who else is going to reach those cupboards for you?"

She hated how right that sounded. Thorne’s grin said he knew it too.

They left the motorhome without buying it. Dove was proud of herself for almost thirty seconds, until the dealer showed her a smaller towable camper with a fold-down bed and an interior that smelled unpleasantly damp. Suddenly the first vehicle looked like a palace again.

"Don’t let me compare it to something worse until it seems perfect," she told both men.

Edrik’s mouth curved. "That’s an interesting rule to say to your husbands."

"Neither of you came with a leaking roof. Behave."

Dove asked whether the table could be removed or the seating changed without damaging the structure. The dealer said those were questions for the inspection, not reasons to start pulling panels apart on the sales lot. Fair enough. She wrote them beneath the list of known faults and made herself step outside for air. Wanting the vehicle felt good and uncomfortable at the same time.

She pictured their little carved fox on the kitchen shelf and hated how quickly her brain had started unpacking. Thorne waited beside her without asking for a decision. Edrik brought her water, and she drank before going back to the things they could afford today.

They turned to useful ordinary goods instead. The dealer had surplus shelving, sound water containers, clean cushions kept indoors, storage hooks, and a portable awning missing one bent fitting. The awning could shade their chairs and owned goods beyond the little storefront. She could improve home without buying a vehicle.

Thorne touched the bent support and eased it straight with his power. The bend corrected; the cracked joint beside it stayed cracked. He showed Dove before she could get excited. They still needed a sound replacement for that section from the dealer’s stock. Edrik reinforced the metal under his palm while Thorne checked the fit, then released it so the dealer could test the frame normally.

"So you can fix the bend, but not pretend that crack isn’t there," Dove said.

"Exactly," Thorne told her. She added the replacement to her offer, pleased she understood what she was paying for.

Dove traded recovered goods for the awning with its replacement part, two sound storage boxes, and kitchen pieces she could inspect herself. She kept the motorhome key only long enough to return it. The dealer gave her its fault list for Iris’s mechanic, and she folded it before she could ask for another look at the bed.

They had accomplished something without adopting the largest problem on the lot. She intended to celebrate that with a snack.

At the edge of the sales yard, a worker approached carrying a necklace made from polished stones. Dove had barely begun saying no when he explained it was for trade, not a proposal. His embarrassed expression looked sincere enough that she apologized for guessing wrong.

"Happens," he said. "There’s not many women out here. Men get stupid."

"I’ve noticed it’s not limited to location."

He laughed, and she traded for a small blue stone on a cord after checking the price. She liked it, and she didn’t need every pretty thing in her life to arrive through courtship.

Edrik helped her tie it behind her neck. His fingers brushed her skin once, deliberately enough to make her look at him. He seemed pleased with the result and very interested in whether she would acknowledge that he had been careful.

She kissed his cheek before they left. "Thank you for not buying me a leaking house just because I looked at it."

"You’re making restraint sound attractive. That’s dangerous."

Thorne picked up their packed bag. "We should encourage it."

They stopped once more on the way home at an empty roadside shop where Dove recovered sealed drink mixes, a sound dusting brush, and a box of clean paper goods. The pickup bed was nearly full, so they left damaged furniture and anything too awkward to carry safely.

By evening, she had stopped thinking about the motorhome every five minutes and started thinking about how to fit the new awning above their outdoor table. The plan included shade, a chair for herself, and both husbands within reach of her cold drink.

Then they reached B’s checkpoint and found a line of loaded vehicles waiting outside. A guard was checking every returning recovery party against a fresh list.

It wasn’t a wanted notice. It was a temporary restriction on bringing large electrical equipment into B, and her cooling unit was already home. She needed to know whether she could still use it.