His Test Cost Him a Wife, Not a Negotiation novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Take It

Dorinda's POV

He came back on Sunday night in the Subaru, with the heater broken and snow on his shoulders.

I opened the door before he knocked.

I had been sitting by the window since four.

"Your note said don't count the days," I said.

"You counted."

"Two and a half. I'm not proud of it."

He stood in the hall holding a paper bag and looking tired in a way I'd never seen him look.

"Dad's knee is fine," he said. "He stepped off a hay wagon and sat down hard. My brother's wife made me eat three meals."

"Why did you leave without telling me?"

"Because I wanted to do one thing before I came back."

He took an envelope out of the bag and put it on the table.

It was a cashier's check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

It was cut straight across the middle, and the two halves lay side by side.

"I took it to the farm," he said. "I showed it to my father. I told him what it was and what I'd said to Rosalind. Then I cut it up in the kitchen with his good scissors."

"You could have cashed it," I said.

"I know."

"You could have cleared your loans. Bought your dad a new tractor."

"Dad said the same thing." He almost smiled. "Then he said, 'Son, tell the girl.' So I'm telling the girl."

I stood very still.

Four years with Winslow had taught me to look for the catch in a kindness.

I looked for it now, in Soren's face, and in the paper on the table, and in my own chest.

There wasn't one.

He wanted nothing.

He was just standing in my doorway with snow in his hair, giving me the plain truth.

"You don't want anything for this," I said.

"I want you to know I didn't sell you."

"I do know."

"Then I'm done."

"And the coat," I said. My voice came out hoarse. "The eighty dollars."

"Dorinda."

"I'm saying it's yours. Take it back. I'll give you the money."

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

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