They Vetoed My Wedding 5 Times I Vetoed Them for Life novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Second Bedroom

The apartment building in Portland stands on a hill above the harbor, and the manager lives on the ground floor.

He came out in his slippers when Theo rang, and his eyebrows went up.

"Mr. Bancroft. You're the unit nobody's ever opened."

"I'm the unit's tenant."

"Nobody's paid you a visit but the lady."

"What lady?"

"Mrs. Pruitt." He scratched his head. "Came in April. Said her daughter's husband was a slow man to decide. She paid the whole year ahead and had a bed delivered."

Theo turned and looked at me.

I could not speak.

The manager handed us the key, and we climbed three flights of stairs in the dark.

The apartment smelled of fresh paint.

It had two bedrooms, as the lease said, and the second one had a window the width of the wall.

Across the roofs and the masts, the harbor lay in the dusk, with lights coming on one by one.

In the middle of the room stood a bed.

It was made.

The quilt on it was cream, with a border of faded blue, and a white envelope lay on the pillow.

Delia, it said, in my mother's slant.

My hand shook as I opened it.

It was a single line.

I wanted you to see the water from this window, so I paid for the bed myself. Love him loudly. Mom.

I sat down on the edge of the bed.

The tears came without a sound at first, and then with one.

Theo knelt in front of me and took my hands.

"She did this," I said. "The same month she was paying Dad to say no. She was buying you a bed."

"I know."

"She was wrong, and she loved me. Both. I don't know where to put that."

"You don't have to put it anywhere." He pressed his forehead against my knees. "Just have it."

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