Chapter 89: Luxury
Ava stepped into the small room, pausing at the entrance as her eyes swept across the space. It was tiny, barely more than a closet with four walls. A single bed sat against one side, its thin mattress looking like it had seen better days. The only other pieces of furniture were a small wooden stool and a crate that had apparently been repurposed as a table. There was one window and a small lamp.
Behind her, Dennis shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know it isn’t much," he admitted. "In fact, it’s nothing at all. But it’s a place to sleep."
Ava turned back to him, offering a small smile. "Thank you," she said, and meant it.
She walked further into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, testing it. It did creak, but she had spent nights on the bare floor before. This was practically luxury.
"So," she said, stretching her legs out as she sat on the bed, "what’s the routine like around here?"
Dennis leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "We farm early in the morning," he said. "Then we have breakfast. We go hunting every once in a while too, but we never stray past our territory except for the very rebellious teenagers, like Justin."
"You’ve done a great job keeping this place together," she said. "It can’t be easy."
Dennis exhaled, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "It’s been hard," he admitted. "But we try."
Ava could hear the exhaustion in his voice, the quiet weight of responsibility pressing down on him. He was younger than Lucas, but his shoulders carried the burdens of a man twice his age. She could see it in the lines around his eyes, the tension in his posture.
Dennis might crack jokes, but he wasn’t just surviving here, he was leading.
And he was doing it alone.