Five Years a Fool, A Lifetime Apart novel · Chapter 24 of 24

Chapter 24: Curtain Open

On Saturday morning someone knocked at seven.

Margo was in the shower, so I opened the door in my undershirt.

Camille stood in the hall in a clean blouse and borrowed shoes.

Jasper stood beside her in a clip-on tie, holding a paper bag with both hands.

"We won't stay," she said.

"Come in."

"No. I wanted to bring you this."

She held out a manila envelope.

Inside was a court order with a gold seal.

The divorce decree had been stamped Friday afternoon.

Page nine was gone.

She had struck the waiver of my rights and the whole clause about the baby, and signed the revised version in blue ink.

"I took the lawyer you sent me," she said. "He told me what was fair, and I signed it."

I looked at her signature for a moment.

It was the same neat handwriting that had written the due date on the card.

She saw me looking, and she flinched.

"I put Dexter's name on the baby's form too. The state sent a paternity notice to the last address he had. It came back unopened."

"Where is he?"

"A used car lot in Nevada. A cousin of his posted a picture online." She shrugged, tight and brittle. "He's paying nothing. He'll call when the lot fires him."

"And you?"

"I start at a freight depot on Monday. Dispatch, nights. It's the only place that would hire me."

"The Dunning depot?"

"No." She almost smiled. "The one across the highway."

She looked down at her son.

← Chapter 23 · All chapters

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend