Not His Bride Anymore novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Her Things

We went back to the loft on Sunday at eleven in the morning.

Elliot carried two flat boxes up the stairs and said nothing.

I had my key in my hand, and I did not need it.

The door was open.

Caleb's mother sat on our sofa with a cup of coffee, and his stepfather stood at the window with his arms folded.

Caleb sat at the table with his head in his hands.

Savannah was standing in the kitchen in my robe.

It was the green one my mother gave me, with my initials on the pocket.

Her hair was wet, and her feet were bare on my floor.

Nobody spoke.

"I came for my things," I said. "I'll be quick."

Caleb's head came up.

"Ains. Thank God. We can fix this."

"Which part?"

"All of it. Look, I was going to tell you. The bakery thing, it's nothing. Mom, tell her it's nothing."

His mother put down her cup.

"Caleb," she said, "why is Savannah wearing Ainsley's robe?"

"She slept on the couch. She was upset."

"Which couch?" I said.

Nobody answered.

I took out my phone and set it on the table in front of his mother.

The screen showed the photograph from my mother's folder, the dock and the winter lake and two coats pushed close together.

"That was last Saturday," I said. "He told me he was downtown. She told me she was in Atlanta."

His mother looked at it for a long time.

She was not a quiet woman, but she did not make a sound.

Then she lifted her eyes to the girl in the green robe.

"Savannah," she said. "Sweetheart. Put your hand down."

Savannah had been holding her left hand against her stomach.

She lowered it.

On her ring finger sat a thin gold band set with a tiny green stone.

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