Forgotten Groom in the Back Alley novel · Chapter 7 of 24
Chapter 7: Four Septembers
The photograph was eight inches by ten, in a plain wooden frame.
In it, Yvette stood in a garden under a white arch, in a cream dress with short sleeves, holding a small bunch of lavender.
Brodie stood beside her in a navy suit with his hand around hers.
On his ring finger was a thick gold band.
I thought of the pale stripe I had watched him rub for eight years, and I looked at the band.
Then I looked at the faces.
Yvette was laughing, her real laugh, with her head thrown back.
Brodie was crying openly, and she was holding his hand to her cheek.
An older woman stood just behind them, in a blue dress, smiling hard through her own tears.
"That's her mother," Dot said. "Lovely woman. She hugged me twice."
I couldn't find my voice.
Hazel pulled out the chair beside me and sat down slowly.
"Turn it over," Dot said.
I turned it over.
On the back of the frame, in neat blue ink, was written: Mr. and Mrs. Kohler. Garden room. September 14.
"Four years ago this month," Dot said. "I put a photo of every couple on my wall. This one I put in a drawer, because the girl asked me to."
"Asked you to?"
"She said nobody from her office could ever know. She paid for the garden for four hours and for the staff to keep quiet."
Dot sat down across from me with a grunt.
"I don't gossip about my brides. I only noticed her on Saturday because she walked through my hall in white again, and I thought, well, that's odd. She's done that already."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Forgotten Groom in the Back Alley from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 6 · All chapters · Chapter 8 →
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