His Letters Reached Me Fourteen Years Late, and the First Said Goodbye novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Man Who Carried Route Four
Odalys's POV
By Saturday the whole town had decided what I was.
I found out at the hardware store on Greene Street, where I went for a box of packing tape and a second tape gun.
The man at the counter had sold my mother light bulbs for thirty years.
He rang me up without looking at my face.
"Nineteen forty," he said.
"Thank you, Mr..." I had known his name once. I could not find it, and he did not help me.
He counted my change onto the counter instead of into my hand.
Two women in church coats stood at the paint chips.
One of them said, quite clearly, "Poor Verna, after all she did for that family."
I turned around.
They both studied the paint chips very hard.
"Ladies," I said.
Neither of them moved.
"Is there a color you'd call 'kept somebody's mail'?" I said. "I'd like to buy a quart."
One of them dropped a swatch.
I carried my tape out to the sidewalk with my face hot and my knees not quite steady.
It was the fourth time that week a door had closed in my face, and I had not cried at any of them.
I was proud of that, and it was no help.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of His Letters Reached Me Fourteen Years Late, and the First Said Goodbye are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →
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