When Love's Sorrow Plays Again novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Second Night

I called Julius from the curb with one hand and kept the other over Ellery's ear.

He was there in nine minutes.

He came out of a taxi at a run, coat open, and crossed the street without looking.

The black sedan sat there with its engine idling.

Roderick lowered the window two inches.

"Julius. What a coincidence."

Julius grabbed the top of the glass and pulled the door open.

He took Roderick by the front of his coat and hauled him half out of the seat.

"You went to her school."

"Take your hands off me."

"You told a six-year-old that her mother was poor."

"I told her the truth. Let go, or I'll call the police."

"Julius." I was out of my car, with Ellery crouched in the back seat looking at us through the glass. "Not in front of her."

He stopped.

His fist was already back.

I put my hand flat on his chest and felt his heart going.

"She can see you," I said.

He looked at the back window.

Ellery was staring at him with her mouth open.

His arm came down slowly.

He let go, and Roderick dropped back into the leather and straightened his lapel with a small, tender smile.

"There he is," Roderick said. "The man who raised her."

"Get out of here."

"I'm a concerned uncle, that's all. I have a right to ask about my brother's welfare." He turned the key. "Thirty days, Leona. Twenty-four left. Do give the child my love."

The window went up.

The sedan pulled away from the curb.

Julius stood in the street breathing hard.

I put my arms around him, right there on Lowry Avenue, in front of three neighbors and a dog walker.

He buried his face in my hair.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"You were about to hit him."

"I wanted to."

"I wanted you to."

He laughed, wetly, into my shoulder.

Agatha took Ellery that night.

She came herself in her yellow coat, hoop earrings swinging, and stuffed my daughter into her car with a bag of cheese puffs and a promise of three bedtime stories.

"Go," she told me. "Both of you. Eat something. Do something stupid."

"Agatha."

"I'm godmother. I give moral instruction."

She drove away.

I stood in my front hall with Julius, with the porch light buzzing and the whole house empty for the first time in six years.

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

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