A/N: The next will come quick.
Chapter 57 - He Has an Answer
Edward puts away the tractor when the old man hollers. 'Kid' is how he calls him.
He's used to the old man now; short stature in an angry cloud. He has forced himself into Edward's orbit. He orders him around, and Edward is forced to interact, to watch him do things matter of fact. No thought or hesitation to be around other humans, to exist, just to get work done.
Edward goes to him.
The old man—'Boss' as everyone calls him—is acting oddly this time, hesitant.
"Look, I know who you are," he starts, no beating around the bush when they meet in the kitchen.
Edward's stomach drops.
"I've known all along. But I've kept giving you cash to accommodate you. No papers in file. I figured you were homeless. I took you in not even knowing your name, not like other men coming in here."
Edward stuffs his hands in his pockets. Plans of leaving so soon take up his mind instantly.
"You're good. You give me no trouble. I made the right choice with you. A few seasons have passed, and I kept my mouth shut. I'm giving you the choice to stay or leave. Work will get light here, no pay."
Edward shuts down again, thinking money was never what he needed. He looks like he did that first night the Boss found him, standing by the screen door motionless. A shell of a man, that's what the old man thought.
"Go on. Think about it. Give me an answer by the end of the week."
Edward leaves the kitchen, softly closing the screen door behind him. A mountain of hard questions closing in on him. He restlessly walks around the field through bedtime. Then past midnight. Dawn comes sneaking in; still he sits by some trees wide awake.
Everything in him tells him to stay—his gut again, speaking to him. But his heart tells him time is up. He must move on, and he wants to. The rules in his kingdom have been abandoned. He yearns to find isolation. But how? The one thing he needs has been a nightmare to find; food.
Here, it's been easy.
He stands. He walks back to his room at the inn like a zombie. The wind harsh and pulling at his clothes. Rain bats at his cheeks. He bypasses the goats, and the cows, and even the empty receptionist area. New folks rarely come in and out, he hardly runs into any. He wonders how this place keeps running. For a while now, he's been the only one occupying a room. In part, he has been isolated.
He has an answer for the Boss. He thinks he does.
The moment he climbs the creaky steps, up to the second floor, he hears movement. Someone else is taking the last few steps at the top of the flight of stairs. By the time he gets there and turns toward his bedroom door with the key, a warm body is at their door down the hall. He glances over his shoulder to look.
That woman.
That Lady of the Woods looks back at the threshold of her open, lacquered door. She glances at him with kind eyes, like one does to a stranger.
She grins.
Edward slams his door shut behind him. His heart speeding like the tractor motors he tinkers with all day.
In no time, his duffle bag is on his bed, and so are all his things stuffed inside.
He has an answer—but a different one.
….