Taken in My Sleep by My Stepfather David and His Friends novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: The Night Her Mother Died

After supper the others found reasons to be elsewhere.

Bernard took the dishes to the porch to scrub them in a bucket for no reason.

Ellis went up the ladder with a book.

Garson put on his coat and said he was checking the generator, which did not need checking.

That left David and me at the kitchen table with one lamp on.

He had cooked, and I had eaten every bite and hated it.

"Ask me," he said.

"Ask you what?"

"What you want to ask."

"I want to ask why you took me. You won't tell me."

"That isn't the question."

"I want to ask why nobody's looking for me."

"That isn't it either."

I pushed my chair back.

"Then I'll ask the one I've wanted to ask since the funeral."

He went still.

"Where were you?" I said.

He didn't move.

"The night my mother died. She was in that room for nine hours, David. I called you at four in the afternoon and again at six. I called you at nine."

"Zelda."

"You were in Syracuse. At a lumber show, with a name tag, shaking hands. She asked for you twice. I told her you were parking the car."

"I know."

"I sat there alone and I held her hand and I lied to her."

My voice cracked on the last word, and I hated that too.

"I turned my phone off at midnight," he said. "It was the only time in five years I did that. I was asleep in a hotel when she died."

"You were her husband."

"I was."

"Then why weren't you there?"

"Because I believed the doctor when he said she had days, and he was wrong. I believed him because I wanted to." He looked at his hands. "That's the whole reason. There's no better one."

← Chapter 5 · All chapters · Chapter 7 →

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