Three Breakdowns A Year Was All I Was Allowed novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: Door

It was dark when Luther knocked on the frame of the kitchen doorway.

Shanna had gone to her shift, and I was alone in the house with the galley.

I had read Chapter Three three times, and my eyes felt sanded.

"I'm not here to talk you out of anything," he said from the hall. "I'll stay out here, if you want."

"You can come in."

He stepped through the sheeting and stopped just inside the room.

He had changed his shirt, and his hands hung at his sides with nothing in them.

"I want to say the thing straight," Luther said. "Then you can decide what to do with me."

I nodded.

"The first night, when I wrote to him, I wasn't thinking about you. I was thinking about myself. When my wife died, nobody called me for three days. When they did, it was a policeman. I couldn't stand the idea of somebody out there not knowing where you were."

"That's not what happened to me."

"I know. I handed him your door." He swallowed. "I'm not asking to be forgiven. I'm saying it was my mistake, and not a plan, and I'll never call that man again. Not for you, not for anyone, not to say hello. If he calls me, I'll hang up."

"You can't promise that."

"I just did."

He reached into his jacket and took out a ring of keys.

He worked one free, and it took him a moment, because his hands were not quite steady.

It was a brass house key with a green rubber cap.

"This is to my place," he said. "It's on Dayton Street, it's got a spare room and a good lock, and I'll be wherever the work is. You'll have somewhere with a door only you can open."

← Chapter 9 · All chapters · Chapter 11 →

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