Three Breakdowns A Year Was All I Was Allowed novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Preview Night

By Thursday night my name was still on that cream page, with no surname and no quote marks, and I had not been asked.

I went to the preview in a bookstore on State Street to see who else had read it.

A hundred folding chairs, a table of galleys, and a hand-lettered sign that said Meet the Author.

Shanna and I sat in the third row from the back.

The cardigan woman, the young wife and the woman in scrubs sat in a row behind us, and Luther stood against the shelves near the door with his arms folded.

I had not planned to come, and I came anyway.

I wanted to see him in a room full of people who thought he was kind.

Christian walked in at seven in a gray jacket, with his glasses clean and his notebook in his hand.

Applause rose, warm and dutiful, and he lifted a hand to quiet it.

"Thank you," he said. "Dr. Hellstrom sends her love. She is resting this week. We've all been working very hard."

He talked for ten minutes about regulation and the family system.

He was good.

I had forgotten how good.

He made a room of strangers nod at the idea that grief is a currency and that every marriage runs on a budget.

"The hardest thing I ask of my clients," he said, "is to believe their partner is a person and not a dumping ground."

A woman in the front row put a hand on her chest.

Then he looked up, and his eyes went down the rows, and stopped.

"I see my wife in the back," he said.

Heads turned.

"Emmy has been through a great deal this year. She is the reason this book exists, and she is also, I'd ask you to be gentle, not entirely well. Would you come up, love?"

← 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