The Wife He Buried Alive novel · Chapter 27 of 32
Chapter 27: Her Mother's Dress
My mother had been a seamstress, and the dress was the last thing she made me.
It had hung at the back of my closet on Linden Street for more than four years, in a garment bag I had been afraid to open.
I opened it on Saturday afternoon.
It was dark green silk with a plain neck and long sleeves, cut to fit me exactly, and every seam inside it was hand-turned.
I put it on and stood in front of the long mirror.
It still fit.
Behind me the bedroom door opened, and I saw Winston in the glass.
He wore a black dinner jacket with the tie hanging loose.
He had stopped with one hand on the knob.
"I'll go," he said.
"Stay. I need someone to zip it."
He crossed the room without a sound and stood at my back.
I held my hair up with both hands.
The zipper started at the base of my spine.
His knuckles moved up along it, one slow notch at a time, and I felt each tooth close.
At my shoulder blades he stopped.
"Your mother made this," he said.
"Yes."
"I remember the day you wore it. The charity dinner, our second year."
"You don't remember that."
"I looked at you across the table all night," he said. "I told the man next to me you were my wife, and he asked if you were always that quiet. I said no. I said you were saving it for me."
I laughed, and it came out unsteady.
"That is not a thing you said."
"It's exactly what I said."
He laid his palm flat between my shoulder blades, over the silk, and left it there.
I did not step away.
Keep reading free with an account. Start The Wife He Buried Alive from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 26 · All chapters · Chapter 28 →
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