Geemeedee

I‘m with drsawzall — Tarquin moved money into a secret account somewhere. Enough for revenge and reclamation? I guess we’ll see. The only legal point I find sticky is Oliver. As Tarquin’s accountant he signed off on a lot of sketchy transfers. He did his damndest to keep the town running — it’s how he got his new job — but his hands aren’t clean … I enjoyed the story very much. The characters just keep bringing it!

EXCELLENT observation! Should’ve known Topher posted the larger image for that reason. So it’s Axl.

Mentioned after my comment, yes. Merrickville is some impressive world building and I enjoy following the residents. A list of the order the stories should be read, including the Carter stories, would be helpful going forward.

Kenny and Steve.

I saw the post. I screenshot it as a reference. From Chapter Seven: “I did.” Orel nodded solemnly, as if confirming the chemical composition of water. “Fourth grade. By the creek. You were catching frogs. You had mud on your cheek right here.” He touched the spot on Finn’s face, his fingertip cool and definitive. “And the sun was hitting your hair. It looked like new copper wire. It conducted the light.” This is the year of the barn incident. Kids are 9 or 10 in fourth grade. Ten years later, depending on the time of year, Finn and Orel can still be 18.

Also: The jovial chaos of the evening was gone, replaced by a heavy, shared silence. From inside, they could hear Lydia on the phone, arguing with Steve even as he drove away with the other boys. Jenny-Lynn closed her eyes for a second, listening to the sound of her son being gently, firmly managed. A weight she’d carried for twenty-three years lifted just a fraction. Steve’s only around 19, maybe 20 if he and Kenny have been in Australia for a year. Is there an older sibling? How long did their story take place before “Asset and Liability?”

Nine. They were 9 years old. I’m wondering if Kenny and Orel will figure out that Orel owns half the town. If they can go far back enough in the archives, they should be able to suss it out. Since Oliver decided not to inform Orel, I hope they find out of their own. I’m surprised this is ending in three chapters. There’s a lot to wrap up. I say let Andrew loose on Tarquin. The man’s a menace.

Not only how did Finn get out of jail (surely it sent up flares to Lydia, Garrett, etc.), but why didn’t Oliver tell Orel that he owns a big chunk of the town? Marriage + truth = Oliver in Ottowa. Also, Tarquin knows Oliver didn’t really forward document copies to Lydia and others (that didn’t seem to sink in when Tarquin was explaining his plan), but why doesn’t Oliver forward those documents to Lydia and others? He’s playing both sides without recognizing it, I think.

Having trouble suspending disbelief because I like and respect certain mores — one of them dress a little nicer to dine at a nice restaurant. This little town teeters on the edge of magical realism, a place populated with a surplus of viciously intelligent teenagers and the bemused and indulgent adults that support them. But Orel going to dinner in a Domino’s uniform is a step too far for me. Also: Garrett and Kyle have only been a couple for three months? Feels like more time has passed.

And for the first time, the terrifying thought emerged: perhaps Orel, by choosing Finn, hadn't run away from family at all. Perhaps he'd run straight into the heart of a bigger, fiercer, more protective one. Whoomp, there it is.

Wait — I just reread it, like, three times. AXL will fall for someone he never saw coming, probably Lydia. Back to grumbling.

Cute, but can we go back to the war now?

You just made me so happy.

It’s time to set it aside and come back in a month.

I just keep thinking: isn’t Orel’s place supposed to condemned?

How I know this is damn fine writing: My stomach hurt the entire time I read this chapter. I was eating lunch and couldn’t finish the last few bites because it nauseated me. My heart is still pounding. I asked earlier if Finn and Orel were a done deal and they … appear to be? I’m surprised Oliver returned to his seat at the right hand of the devil so quickly. Like Mattyboy said, Oliver knew Tarquin would be like this. And yet, he signed all those checks for the monster who abused two young boys — one of them his brother. What the actual fuck. I’m an American — a black, female, Deep South-raised American, and the rot oozing out in this country has me feeling a way about white male characters like Tarquin and Oliver. I’m triggered, is what I’m saying. Congratulations?

… heart transplant? But Lyn kept his silence. Even if Brad had given him such heartbreaking news, he knew they still had time to talk about everything. Of course they don’t. This is the chapter where I officially dislike Lyn.

Can I hold out hope for Finn + Oliver, or is this a done deal?

All. Of. Them.

"It’s your money, Orel. All of it. The stipend from the last quarter. The accumulation from the years you didn't spend.” Isn’t that the money Tarquin has been living off of?

Finn leaned in the doorway. “I talked to the neighbor.” Orel didn’t look up. “The chestnut-burr man? Does he require a baked good as a peace offering?” Its’s like Orel doesn’t know Garrett. Don’t they play D&D together? I was hoping Finn and Oliver would pair up. Oh well.

Lyn is willfully blind.

If that’s Finn on the right in the story’s illustration, he has dark hair.

BTW I thought Finn was a redhead?

Kind of? Oliver COULD have left with Orel, but he didn’t have a clear picture of what was going on. Also, the dad was a terror and Oliver was hiding his own sexuality. I’m sad that Orel isn’t bi — he and Lydia would’ve been great together. I think there’s enough street smarts, book smarts and money in this revenge club to take Tarquin down. Looking forward to how it’s accomplished. Not gonna lie — I wish they would just have him killed instead.