Page 36 of Resilience on Canvas

“Oh?”

“Yeah, come here,” Robert said, taking Henry by the collar and pulling him close. “Ready to hear it?” His face was close enough for Henry to feel the little puffs of warmth on his cheek from each of Robert’s exhales. Henry swallowed hard and nodded, though he wasn’t sure if he reallywasready to listen to whatever Robert might have to say. Mostly, he was ready to faint. Robert’s lips were right next to Henry’s ear when he whispered, “Grow a backbone.”

And then Robert burst out laughing. Heat rushed to Henry’s cheeks, but he couldn’t help snorting a laugh himself. When they both stopped laughing, Henry tried to wrestle his shirt from Robert’s hand, but Robert wasn’t letting up. Even though Robert’s face was no longer right next to Henry’s, he was still holding tight to Henry’s collar.

“Robert,” Henry whined. “Let go.”

“Come on, Hen,” Robert said with an impish smile. “I know how strong you are. I saw you lifting them flour sacks earlier. I want you tomake melet go.”

Henry’s heart stuttered, a whole heap ofwantstriking him in the chest. He tried to ignore the rush of it, and he took Robert’s hand in his to try to pry his fingers loose. Oh, Lord, the roughness of Robert’s skin felt so Goddamn nice.

“Ah, see, I knew you had a fire in you,” Robert said as his hand broke free from Henry’s shirt.

Still, Robert wouldn’t release Henry’s hand. Instead, he started trying to twist it, rotating Henry’s wrist. Henry had no choice but to keep fighting back. Not unless he wanted his wrist broken. Letting out a grunt, Henry reached up to try to free his trapped hand with his other one, but Robert caught that hand, too, andthen they were pushing both of their hands together, their fingers intertwined. It was the strangest fight Henry had ever been in. It also happened to be theonlyfight he’d ever been in. Before Henry knew what was happening, Robert started shoving him back, their hands still locked together, and Henry had to throw his weight forward to try to counter it.

With a little cry, Henry shoved Robert back and pinned him to the wall.

They stared at each other for a few moments, both of them breathing hard.

“I think we found yer backbone,” Robert finally said with the biggest, most infuriating grin.

Henry’s stomach somersaulted. He couldn’t manage to make himself release Robert’s hands. And Robert was still holding on tight himself. They stayed there for a few more seconds, their chests heaving, faces flushed, staring into each other’s eyes.

Finally, Robert wet his lips and said, “I’m finished learning how to run the store, huh?”

In a small voice, Henry rasped, “Just about.”

“Hmm...” Robert narrowed his eyes as though thinking this over. “Ain’t that a shame. ’Cause I wanted to spend more time with you. Maybe there’s somethin’ I can teach you instead, though. Soon.”

Henry’s heart slammed into his rib cage. “Y-yeah?”

“Yeah. I can teach you how to make that carrot marmalade,” Robert replied, squeezing Henry’s hands a bit harder. “I seem to remember you likin’ it. Did I have that right?”

Jesus Christ Almighty. What in the hell was Robert trying to say? Was he trying to confirm that Henry had liked the marmalade or... or somethingelse?Either way, Henry’s answer was the same.

“Yeah, I-I liked it,” he said. “More than I... more than I should have.”

“Well, then, when’s the nexttime yer free?”

“Wednesday?”

Robert smirked. “Are you askin’ me? Or tellin’ me?”

“I’m... I’m tellin’ you,” Henry said, his voice trembling the tiniest bit.

“After this shift, I won’t be workin’ ’til Friday, so how about you come to my house on Wednesday, and I’ll teach you how to make carrot marmalade. Would you like that?”

“Very much,” Henry said with a small, tentative smile.

Robert’s smile broadened. “Alright. Wednesday, then.” His eyes flickered over to their joined hands, and he snorted. “You can let go now. I won’t hurt you.”

Henry let out a breath as he released Robert’s hands, and then he took a step back. Chuckling, Robert rubbed his wrists.

“Do you want me to stay for a bit longer?” Henry asked.

“Yeah. Just for one more customer. I want to make sure I know how to use that register right.”

Henry nodded.

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