Marriage Offered, Love Declined novel · Chapter 18 of 24
Chapter 18: Initials
My father set the table for four on Sunday and put out his good plates, the ones with the blue rim.
He had not been told why.
He had only been told to be home, and to wear the flannel with no holes.
My mother's teapot sat on the radiator.
Her photograph looked down from over the television, smiling the smile I had been told was mine.
Cosima came in with a pie she'd bought and claimed she had baked.
Sebastian came in with the red folder under his arm.
I had handed it to him at the door and said, "Carry this. It's heavy."
It wasn't heavy.
It was the heaviest thing I had ever owned.
We ate first, because my father would not allow business on an empty plate.
Meatloaf.
Gravy.
He watched Sebastian eat every bite again, and this time he did not say anything about the crust.
When the plates were cleared I opened the folder on the dining table, between the salt and my mother's blue teapot.
"Dad, I need you to witness something."
"I don't like paper."
"I know."
"Last time I signed paper, I lost a house."
"You didn't lose it," I said. "We found it again. Sit down."
He sat, and put his big hands on the table.
I laid out Amendment 5.
Sebastian sat across from me and did not touch it.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Marriage Offered, Love Declined are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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