Perfect Husband Act: Now My Wife's Sorry novel · Chapter 4 of 24
Chapter 4: Thursday Dinner
*Day two of three.*
On the second day, Audrey started to watch me everywhere I went.
She did it over coffee.
She did it in the car, on the way to her mother's, with her eyes on the side of my face.
"Say it," I said at the red light.
"Say what?"
"Whatever you're thinking."
"I'm thinking you're up to something."
"I'm driving, Audrey."
She turned to the window.
The Hartigan house sat at the end of a long gravel drive, with her late father's maples gone red on both sides.
Every Thursday for three years we had eaten dinner there.
Every Thursday for three years Travis Bannon had been at the table, because his mother had died when he was twelve and Audrey's mother had never stopped feeding him.
His car was already in the drive.
Susie came out the front door before I had parked.
She was Audrey's little sister, twenty-seven, a nurse, red-haired and loud, still in her scrubs.
She threw both arms around my neck.
"There he is! The only man in this family who can load a dishwasher!"
"Hi, Susie."
"Why do you smell like cooking? Audrey, why does he smell like cooking? Did you finally break him?"
"Nobody broke anybody," Audrey said.
"Somebody did something," Susie said, and winked at me.
Inside, Audrey's mother stood at the stove in her good apron.
She turned, saw me, and lowered her spoon.
"Ethan. You came in the kitchen."
"I'd like to help, if you'll let me."
"Nobody ever helps."
"I know."
She looked at her daughter for a moment, and then she handed me the potato masher.
I mashed potatoes for ten minutes.
I carried the chairs in from the porch.
I filled the water glasses, and I said yes ma'am, and when Audrey's mother dropped a dish towel I picked it up before she bent.
Keep reading free with an account. Start Perfect Husband Act: Now My Wife's Sorry from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 3 · All chapters · Chapter 5 →
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