He Sat Me by the Warming Racks, So I Pulled the Funding novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: Paid in Full
Lowell opened his front door at six o'clock with a dish towel over his shoulder.
His smile died when he saw the box under my arm.
"Come in," he said.
I did not move.
"You met my mother."
He closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"You carried her a lemon cake."
"My wife baked it," Lowell said. "I carried it."
"For twenty-two years you could have told me."
"I didn't know it was you until I opened my wife's file, three years ago," he said.
"I only knew you as a student with a sick mother."
"I stood in that room for an hour with a cake box in my hands, and you were out of it, so I never saw your face."
I held the tin box tighter.
"I didn't tell you in the kitchen because I thought you'd had enough for one night," he said. "And then I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd think I'd planned it."
"Did you?"
"I planned to hold a file, Maureen. I didn't plan to love you."
The word fell between us on the porch.
Neither of us picked it up.
"I'm still angry," I said.
"You should be."
"I'm going to be angry for another ten minutes. Then I'd like you to put the kettle on."
"I've got it on already," he said, and held the door open.
The settlement was signed on the second Tuesday of February, in the same conference room, with the same bowl of green mints.
Curtis arrived last.
His suit was too big for him now, and he had not slept.
His lawyer laid out the papers in a row, and the mediator read the terms aloud.
Keep reading free with an account. Start He Sat Me by the Warming Racks, So I Pulled the Funding from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →
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