Page 61 of Torin

She looks back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Her smile comes more slowly this time.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

I wait until she’s inside before putting the truck in gear.

I’m still grinning when I pull away.

11

Torin

Dawn is just breaking when I step out onto the terrace. The air is cool, the stone beneath my feet still holding the night’s chill.

The two empty glasses of iced tea are still sitting on the table. The blowtorch too.

I start gathering everything up, then notice the faint imprint of Hannah’s lips on the side of her glass.

A grin tugs at my mouth.

Hannah sat right here yesterday. She ate s’mores with me, laughed at my shitty crème brûlée technique, and then⁠—

Mate.

My beast sounds unbearably pleased with himself.

I can’t wait to see her again.

But first, there’s something she needs: internet.

I take the glasses and blowtorch into the kitchen and reach for the coffee. The bag is empty. Looks like I’m heading into town earlier than planned.

I pull out my phone and check the time. The stores won’t be open yet, but Molly’s will.

Coffee first. Then I can figure out how the hell to get internet out to a wilderness cabin.

I go to get dressed.

An hour later, I’m sitting in a booth at Molly’s Diner with a stack of pancakes in front of me and enough coffee in my system to activate my brain.

A couple of truckers are eating at the counter, and two hikers have a map spread across the table behind me.

I pull out my phone and type:

HOW TO GET INTERNET IN WILDERNESS CABIN

The results aren’t encouraging.

Signal boosters. Mesh networks. Satellite internet. A lot of diagrams that seem to assume I already know what half the words mean.

I’m halfway through an article about satellite dishes when the waitress appears with the coffee pot.

“More?”

“Please.”