After a Year of Silence novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Not Yet

Harper's POV

I had come to the cemetery to scream at him, and then I had stood at the gate and watched him talk to my father's stone.

Now he walked out through the iron bars with his hands empty and his trousers soaked to the knee.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Long enough."

"You heard."

"I heard you tell my dad about a bonus," I said. "Which, by the way, is a very Quentin thing to do. You brought a spreadsheet to a grave."

"It was the only thing I had."

"It was not the only thing you had. You had a phone and a plane ticket."

He took that without flinching.

"I sent the money back," he said. "I told the board. If they fire me, they fire me."

"You think that makes it even."

"No."

"You think paying the bill erases the day he died."

"No, Harper."

"Then what was the point?"

"The point was that I owed it," he said. "Not to be forgiven. I owed it."

I walked past him, through the gate and back up the slope, and he followed.

Quinn was sitting by the stone with his back against the maple.

He saw my face and got to his feet.

"I'll be at the car," he said, and left without a word.

I stood in front of my father's name.

The carnations were fresh.

"You said you would have opened the door," Quentin said quietly behind me. "You said it in the rain."

"I would have."

"And you should have told me to stay. You didn't."

"What?"

"Three years, Harper." He did not raise his voice. "You'd hide me in every room. When I asked you the fourth time, you said no and told me to go. You never once said 'stay.' I'm not saying it as a weapon. I'm saying I was waiting for it."

← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →

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