Chapter 20: Signed on the Porch

Dalton's car sat in Annette's driveway with its headlights off.

He got out when Shane's truck pulled in, and he stood in the rain without a coat.

He had not shaved.

"Holly," he said. "Please. Five minutes."

"You have until I get to the porch."

"I made mistakes."

"That's a very small word."

"I lost everything today." His voice broke on it. "My job. My father's in the hospital. Melanie won't answer."

I kept walking.

He walked beside me, still talking.

"I think about us all the time. Ten years, Holly. We had a good thing, and I let other people get into my head."

"Dalton."

"We could start over. I'd go to a counselor. I'd earn it back."

I stopped on the porch steps.

Every window of the cottage was lit.

Through the glass I could see eight women in the front room, in a circle of mismatched chairs, with yarn in their laps.

It was Thursday, Annette's knitting night.

All eight were watching us through the window, and none of them was knitting.

"Come inside," I said.

"What? I can't go in there."

"You asked for five minutes. I'll give you ten, in the light."

I held the door open.

The women stopped talking as he came in dripping.

Annette sat in the biggest chair with a half-finished scarf in her lap.

"Dalton," she said. "Do wipe your feet."

He wiped his feet.

Stephanie stood in the kitchen doorway with a folder, and when he saw her, he took a step back.

"Stephanie," he said. "I didn't know you were..."

"Living here? I am."

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Best Friend Ripped Off My Veil, So I Took Back Every Dollar from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.