He pointed back toward the road. “Anywhere but there.”
She did not press. She told him to sit on the porch while she finished her work. When she came back, she placed a plate in front of him. Beans, cornbread, nothing fancy. Daniel ate like someone afraid the food might disappear if he slowed down. When he realized she was watching, he apologized with his mouth full.
“You sick?” she asked.
He shook his head, then hesitated. “Sometimes.”
That night, he slept on a folded blanket near the stove. By morning, he was still there. By the third day, he stopped asking when he should leave. Mabel never said he could stay. She just handed him small jobs. Carry this. Hold that. Sit still.
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