He Priced Me at a Penny, So I Married Another novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: One Cent
Dean pins Tillie's photo to a flea market board with a one-cent price while Shelby sells her through a megaphone; Tillie calls Giles and learns the movers and he are both headed for the west gate.
On the Saturday we were supposed to pick our wedding date, my fiance Dean pinned my photo to the free board at the community flea market.
That morning he had brought me coffee in bed and promised we would settle the date by dinner.
His best friend, Shelby, had filled in the price card in marker.
One cent.
Under it she had written: used five years, clingy, comes with eight old quilts, all sales final.
I found out when I walked into the park, and Shelby already had the organizer's megaphone.
"Dean's sick of her," she announced. "Whoever wants her can take her home today for free."
"And her best quality? She's desperate to get married!"
The crowd laughed.
A woman shopping for her divorced son took hold of my arm and looked me up and down.
She decided I was too thin and told Dean to throw in a car.
Dean didn't tell her to let go. He started to bargain.
"The car's fine," he said. "But make sure your son doesn't let her run back to her own apartment. She's clingy. He'll have to keep her in line."
I jerked my arm out of her grip.
Her nails had left a red welt on my skin.
Only then did Dean pull me to his side, speaking quietly and smiling, as though nothing had happened.
"You've been after me about the wedding date every day, Tillie. I can't breathe."
"Spend one afternoon here and you'll see nobody else will take you. Then maybe you'll learn how to treat me."
Shelby shoved the megaphone toward my mouth.
"Come on, sell yourself a little. Fix that attitude and maybe somebody will actually want you."
His friends were all filming.
Dean held his phone loose in his hand, and I could read the group chat on the screen.
They were betting on how long it would take me to break down and beg him to take the poster off the board.
I looked past the crowd, and I saw a face I knew.
Phyllis Archbold was standing in front of the free board.
She worked the thumbtack out of the cork and took my photo down slowly, with both hands.
I borrowed a phone from one of the market volunteers and dialed the only number I knew by heart.
"Giles. Change your flight to Boston. Make it two."
He didn't ask why.
"I'm in the lot by the west gate," he said. "Stay where you are."
I handed the phone back and pointed at the beige purse swinging from Shelby's fingers.
"Give me my phone."
That morning she had asked to borrow it for our engagement photos.
I'd handed her the purse and followed Dean into the market, and the first thing I saw was my face on a clothesline.
Now Shelby swung the purse behind her and backed up until Dean stood between us.
"You even invited Mrs. Archbold," she said. "That's quite a show, Tillie. If I'd known, I'd have charged Dean admission."
Phyllis stepped in front of her.
"Give Tillie her bag, young lady. You've had your fun. Are you going to hold her things hostage too?"
Dean knew who she was, and for the first time he stood up straight.
"Mrs. Archbold, it's a joke between us. Tillie's been pushing too hard lately and I wanted her to cool down. Otherwise, once we're married, she'll think everything goes her way."
He took the purse from Shelby and shoved it into my arms.
"Happy now? Don't make this uglier in front of company."
The strap rubbed across the welt and I flinched.
Dean grabbed my arm and put his thumb right on the red mark.
"She doesn't know her own strength," he told Phyllis. "You could have stepped away, Tillie. Why fight her?"
I pried his fingers off.
"You brought that poster here. When she grabbed me, you were standing right next to her."
A gust of wind flipped the torn notice over on the line.
Under my name it listed how I'd gone out in the night to close my neighbors' windows before a storm, and how I'd nursed Dean's mother, Carol, after her stroke.
The best things I'd ever done had become selling points for strangers to pick over.
I reached up to unclip it.
Shelby got there first and pressed her palm on the corner.
"Don't be in such a hurry. The market isn't over. If you pull that down now, people will really think something's wrong with you."
"Take your hand off."
The paper tore under her fingers, and half my photo stayed on the line.
"She's only this angry because she's scared nobody wants her. Dean spoiled her. She isn't like this at home."
I closed my fist around the torn paper until the edge cut my palm.
Five years ago it had been a weekend too.
The Archbolds had come to my mother's house for dinner, and everyone knew Giles planned to ask me out afterward.
All through the meal he kept touching a folded paper in his jacket pocket.
When the guests left, the pocket lay flat.
Dean stopped me on the stairs.
"Tillie, don't let our families arrange your life. You should be with the person you actually like."
Because of those words, I turned Giles down.
Now Dean had hung my photo in the wind and was telling me to smile for strangers.
"Dean, we're done. Stop making a joke out of my name."
He reached for my shoulder, paused, and smiled again.
"Fine. We'll be broken up until dinner. When you calm down, we'll talk about the wedding date."
Shelby laughed and handed a spare poster to the nearest bystander.
"She must think the deal isn't sweet enough. Dean, go get the stuff she packed for the new house. Let everybody see the rest of the dowry."
My grandmother had stitched those eight quilts for my wedding. In our family, the bride brought quilts.
I spun toward Dean.
He was already on the phone with the movers.
"Don't take it to the townhouse. Bring it to the west gate of the park. And bring all eight quilts."
The truck was heading for the west gate.
So was Giles.
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