When Love Walked Away novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Gladys at the Grave
I did not sleep after the deputies left.
Gabe made coffee at four and we sat on the back step and watched the sky go pink over the garage.
The birds started up in the palo verde.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he said.
"No."
"Okay."
"Thank you for standing there."
"I'd stand there again."
"I know you would."
We sat until the coffee went cold.
Gladys came to the gate on Saturday morning.
It was a low iron gate in the wall at the end of my walk.
She stood on the far side of it with her hands folded.
She wore a gray dress, and nothing around her neck.
I saw her from the kitchen window, and I went out and stopped halfway down the path.
She looked ten years older than she had in the courtroom.
"Theresa," she said.
"What do you want, Gladys?"
"They've asked me to step down."
"From the luncheon?"
"From the luncheon, and the board."
"The pastor's wife came to the house herself."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of When Love Walked Away are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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