To Be a Virtuous Wife, According to the Manual novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: A Hard Day in February
On the ninth of February Hal came home at ten past four and kissed me.
He ate two bites of supper and said he needed to look at the Ford.
It was nineteen degrees and dark by five.
I washed the dishes. I dried them. I put them away.
I stood at the kitchen window and watched the thin yellow line under the garage door.
Rule 18 says, "Do not greet him with complaints or problems."
I had been told nothing, and I could not make a complaint of it.
I had a problem, though, and it was cold feet.
I took the wedding-ring quilt off the bed and filled a thermos with coffee.
I lit the little kerosene heater from the cellar and carried it out in both hands.
The flagstones were iced over. I went carefully down the path in my husband's boots.
The garage door was unlatched.
He was sitting on the stool at the workbench with the light on over his head and one elbow on the vise, doing nothing.
On the bench in front of him lay a small round brush with a wooden handle.
The bristles were worn down short, and the handle was dark from years of handling.
"Hal."
"I'm all right."
"I know. I brought you a quilt."
I put the heater on the floor. I put the thermos on the bench. I put the quilt around his shoulders, and he let me.
"What is today?"
"February ninth."
"Of what year?"
"Nineteen fifty-two," said Hal.
His voice sounded from the bottom of a well.
"It was the day I went to Dayton. I'd been home eleven days. I carried his things to his mother in a box."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of To Be a Virtuous Wife, According to the Manual are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →
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