He Sacrificed My Father for His First Love novel · Chapter 2 of 24
Chapter 2: Shrimp Pasta
Domenico serves Abby shrimp pasta though she is allergic, then leaves her on the morning of the burial for Daphne's accident; he arrives forty minutes late with Daphne in a neck brace, Abby hands back her ring, and Daphne whispers that her father was dying anyway.
At seven in the morning, I walked out of the bedroom and found Domenico setting the table.
There was a plate of shrimp pasta at my place and a glass of warm milk beside it.
"I made all your favorites," he said. "After you eat, we'll go say goodbye to your father together."
I looked at the plate for a while.
"I'm allergic to shellfish, Domenico."
He kept smiling.
"I carry an EpiPen. I've carried one since I was nine."
"Daphne is the one who loves shrimp," I said.
The milk stopped halfway to the table in his hand.
His mouth opened to say something, and I took my car keys off the hook and left before he found it.
My father's burial was at noon.
The funeral home had told me twice that we could not miss our slot, because another family was booked at one.
Domenico caught up with me in the garage.
He was in his socks, and his tie was still undone.
His phone rang before I got the car door shut.
He answered it and went rigid.
"A car accident?" he said. "Is she hurt? Where?"
He listened, and his face turned toward the street.
"I'm on my way."
He hung up and put his hand on my window.
"Daphne was in an accident. I have to check on her."
"Okay," I said.
"Your father's burial isn't until noon. I'll be back in time."
I put the car in reverse.
My hands were locked on the wheel so hard that my knuckles went white.
He had to jump out of the way.
The cemetery in Queens was cold and bright, and the grass had frost on it.
My father's casket was already on the lowering frame beside a hole that the workers had squared off perfectly.
Twenty-two people came.
Most of them were men from the track crew he had worked beside for thirty years, in jackets that didn't quite fit anymore.
The neighbor who had brought him soup every Thursday stood in the second row and cried the whole time.
Bea came last, straight off a double shift, in her denim jacket with a funeral scarf thrown over it.
She took my arm without a word and held it against her ribs.
"Where's your husband?" she whispered.
"Daphne had an accident."
"Of course she did," said Bea.
At noon, the priest looked at me.
I looked at the gate.
There was nobody there.
"Please start," I said.
He began to read.
I stood at the edge of my father's grave and heard every word of it.
Domenico's car never came up the drive.
At twenty to one, as the priest said the final blessing, tires crunched on the gravel behind us.
Everyone turned around.
Domenico helped Daphne out of the passenger seat of the Audi.
She wore a white neck brace, a cream coat and one small black glove.
She leaned on his arm and limped across the frosted grass in high heels.
My father's friends stared at her.
"Abby," Daphne said, very softly. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't miss this. I had to pay my respects."
Her eyes were wet.
To everyone behind me she was a woman who had come to comfort the grieving.
"Don't make this harder," Domenico said to me quietly. "She's hurt."
I looked at her feet on the grass.
"She walked from the car."
Behind me, someone breathed in sharply.
I twisted my wedding ring over my knuckle and took it off.
I put it in Domenico's palm and folded his fingers over it.
"Take it back to your mother," I said. "And take her out of my father's burial."
"Abby."
"You've had three months to choose. You don't get to choose in front of him."
Domenico's face went white.
Bea took one step forward, and two of the track crew moved with her.
Daphne let go of Domenico's arm.
For a second I thought she would leave.
She came around him instead, close enough for the priest not to hear, and put her gloved hand gently on my sleeve.
Her voice was kind.
"Your father was dying anyway, Abby," she whispered. "My mother just got there first."
← Chapter 1 · All chapters · Chapter 3 →
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