He reached the docks and watched the river swallow the storm. Somewhere downriver, riverboats untied their lines, men argued and made plans in the damp. Inside one of the boats, a young deckhand who’d once believed in easy answers paused to help a woman with her crate, and she smiled at him like gratitude without condition. Small things, Silas thought. Not enough to reclaim what was lost, but enough that the night had not been entirely without purchase.
Silas shrugged. “I’m leaving town empty-handed.” faro scene crack full
June laughed, a dry scrap of sound. “Colder after you lose.” He reached the docks and watched the river swallow the storm