While He Built Her Home novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Pick a Yellow

Jared left at ten to seven on Monday morning with one duffel bag and a drill case.

I stood in the kitchen doorway in my robe and let him go.

He stopped on the porch and turned around.

"You'll see," he said. "It's seven days. Then it's over, and we do the move party at your place."

"The move was today."

"You know what I mean."

"I do."

He waited for something else. I didn't give it to him.

His truck backed down the driveway and turned onto Fulton Road.

Ten minutes later I was driving to Mill Street with a cup of weak tea.

The donation form was folded in my glove box.

I did not cry.

I had decided that on Saturday night, at three in the morning, lying on the couch with my hand on my stomach.

The first day would be work.

I would open boxes, hang lamps, and answer every question like a woman with nothing to hide.

Brynn came in at eleven with two coffees and a paper bag.

I heard the bell on the door before I saw her.

"Val!" She was glowing, hair down, in a cream sweater and the silver bracelet I gave her last birthday.

"I brought you a latte and a cinnamon roll," she said. "I figured you'd skipped breakfast."

"I had tea."

"Tea?" She laughed and set the cup down anyway. "Since when do you drink tea?"

"Since my stomach hurt."

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