The Harbour Wall

Elian asked Tressa to meet him after his walk with Selwyn, and she nearly said he needn’t.

They were standing in her kitchen on Thursday morning. He had come for breakfast before meeting Selwyn near the harbour, wearing boots and a jacket she knew by the worn place at its cuff. She was supposed to be buttering toast. Instead she was considering whether being available afterwards would look like waiting for a verdict.

“I would like to see you,” he said, apparently reading enough of her face to be impatient with it. “That’s why I asked.”

She put down the knife. “Yes. Where?”

“The bakery at twelve. If the walk runs longer, I’ll let you know.”

“I’ll be there.”

He smiled then, and she remembered that agreeing could sometimes be the whole useful contribution she had to make.

She had known since Tuesday evening that he intended to contact Selwyn…