Chapter 186: She Wanted Both Within Reach

The counter was hers if she could get it outside. Two benches blocked the doorway, and Dove was already pointing at them when the event crew leader came over to help. They belonged to his company too, and he wanted the whole passage cleared.

Thorne was still resting, so she didn’t call him over to prove he could lift something impressive. The two crews moved the benches onto the clear pavement using their own workers. Edrik inspected the serving counter once the path was open and found a damaged wheel bracket.

"Thorne could shape a replacement, and you could hold the frame?" Dove asked, looking at him hopefully.

"Sweetheart, I just held up a tank. Let me finish my water before you find me another one."

She glanced at the tremor he was hiding against his thigh and took the list from him. "Right. Bossy wife got ahead of herself. Sit down before I find you a chair and make it embarrassing."

"Promise?" His smile returned when she narrowed her eyes. "The chair, Dove. I like being spoiled."

He brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. She leaned into the touch, then left the counter alone while he finished his water. It could wait, even if she wanted it badly enough to be annoying.

She chose smaller goods first. Two clean serving pans, sturdy containers, and a roll of sound shade fabric went into their share. She left cracked lids, moldy padding, and a large decorative stand that would have been a nightmare to carry and a worse thing to dust.

The elk leader offered to take part of their load on his truck as thanks for the help. Dove pointed out the counter and made him promise it would come off the truck at her shop. She had found it, and she wanted to be there when it finally rolled through her door. Edrik listened, then asked where the driver intended to stop overnight.

The former diner was still the crew’s planned rest point. Its owner had kept the main room open for recovery workers and rented the two small rear rooms when needed. The injured man had gone toward the base with the first truck. The remaining crews could reach the diner before dark.

Dove opened the storefront beside the yard office for the long meal stop, with both crews clear of its footprint. Buyers fed approved trades into the payment tray and collected their pizzas. She finally sat down between her men instead of carrying everyone’s lunch. Six sales earned the daily reward, a seventh cleared more stock, and she paid four Favor to keep the last tray for her household.

They ate beside the truck with fruit and extra food from their bags, until even Edrik refused another slice.

Thorne took a bite and closed his eyes. Dove watched him with shameless affection until Edrik asked whether he needed to make a noise to receive the same attention.

"You make enough trouble already," she told him.

"That’s not an answer."

She leaned over and kissed the corner of his mouth, then stole the bite he’d been holding. He looked delighted with a trade that should have annoyed him.

After eating and resting, Thorne fitted the sound replacement from the annex. He used his power to shape it around the counter’s mount without closing the bolt hole, working more slowly than he had on the tank. Edrik reinforced the adjoining metal while the crew secured the bolt. He removed his hand before they tested the wheel under an ordinary load.

Dove crouched beside Thorne. "That hole stayed round this time."

"You noticed," he said, checking the bolt once more before giving her his full, pleased attention.

"I notice lots of things. Occasionally above your waist."

He laughed and held out his hand to help her up. The counter rolled straight, ready to earn its place in their shop.

Dove packed the empty storefront. They brought the recovered counter to the truck with help and secured it in a space the driver had agreed to keep clear. Their pickup carried the handcart, personal equipment, and lighter finds. The counter was too bulky to add safely to that load. The damaged tank stayed secured behind them for the crew to recover later.

The drive between the yard and the diner took them past a closed garden store and a row of small houses. Dove pointed out the store for a future search but didn’t ask exhausted men to stop for another armful of things tonight. She wrote the location beside the map instead.

Thorne leaned forward from the rear seat when Dove marked the garden store for later. She reached back at their next stop and scratched behind his ear.

"I remembered we can come back," she told him. "You may praise my astonishing restraint."

His answering chuff made her smile. Edrik kept their pickup behind the larger truck, leaving space through the road dust. Their bags stayed with them; the recovered serving counter traveled on the truck ahead.

At the diner, Dove inspected the rear room before trading for the night. It held a wide mattress, a narrow spare cot, a wooden armchair, and a washstand beneath a screened window. A short hall led directly into the dining room, with a rear exit at the far end. The crew slept in the main room. Nobody needed to pass through hers.

She brought in clean water, washed with the pond water she retrieved separately, and changed out of dusty clothes while the men took turns dealing with their own things. They ate stew, bread, and vegetables from the diner’s kitchen, paid for through the crew’s ordinary arrangement rather than a new miracle supply.

"Could I store the counter instead of asking for a truck next time?" she asked Sprout while checking her coins.

"A large object still requires effort. You were already tired."

"So asking for help was the smart answer. Please say that loudly enough for my stubborn ass to hear it."

She closed the record at 1,295 normal coins and ninety-nine Favor, with the pizza paid for and the counter coming home.

Dove put the record away and sat with her men on the mattress. Edrik stretched his shoulders slowly, and she asked whether the long hold at the tank had hurt him.

"Tired," he said. "Not broken."

"Then sit still and let me spoil you. You’re very bad at being off duty."

He laughed and let her rub a stiff spot with the heel of her hand. Thorne rested against her other side, listening to the low conversation beyond their closed door.

When she stopped, Edrik caught her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. She rested her hand against his cheek, then kissed him because she had spent half the day worrying and wanted to feel him smile against her mouth. Thorne drew her back for a kiss of his own, and she kept a hand in Edrik’s shirt when he reached to lower the light.

"Stay right here," she whispered. "I like having both of you where I can reach."