I Don't Need Your Blue Roses Anymore novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Not Unwell

"Don't touch me," I said to the first man in a polo shirt.

He stopped three feet away.

He looked at my father, and my father didn't look back at him.

"I'm not unwell," I said.

I had never raised my voice in this family.

I raised it now, and it went all the way to the back wall.

"My mother died when I was thirteen, and I have been sad about it for sixteen years," I said. "That isn't an illness. That's grief."

One of the builders at the third table set down his glass.

"Gordon," he said. "Let her talk."

"This is a family matter," my father said.

"It's a birthday party," said the builder. "You invited me to it."

Dean stood up.

I thought he would side with my father.

He had done it every time for seven years.

His chair scraped, and he stood with his hands hanging at his sides.

"She's not unwell," Dean said. His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat and tried again. "Mr. Wardell has paid half my rent for two years. He gave me my job. He told me to keep it from her."

My father turned his head slowly.

"Dean."

"I said ok to every text about the money," Dean said to the room. "Twenty-two times. I didn't read one of them."

He looked at me.

"I'm wrong," he said. "I know I'm wrong. Annie, I'm not asking you for anything."

It was the first time he had said it without asking me to fix it.

It still didn't change anything.

"Do you have the ring?" I asked.

He blinked, and then he reached into his jacket and took out the little box.

"I brought it," he said. "In case."

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