Bye, Mr. Ex! novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: His Mother's House

On Wednesday night the Hendersons' daughter texted me a photo of a woman in a blue robe standing in the middle of Ardmore Road.

It was Colby's mother, barefoot, holding a cup of tea, looking for a bus stop that had been taken down in 1998.

The girl had walked her home and put her in the kitchen.

I looked at the text in Darden's driveway and then took my keys.

Darden leaned out of the screen door in her sleep shirt.

"Where are you going, Pickens?"

"His mother wandered, First Sergeant. She takes her pills at eight and nine, and Colby doesn't know which are which."

"Is he home?"

"He's at the Group until ten on Wednesdays."

"Then go," Darden said. "And take a doughnut. You never know when you'll need a friend."

I had bought a dozen that morning for exactly this reason.

The porch light was on at the rental.

I used the key I had never given back.

The house smelled like somebody else's perfume.

"Hello?"

A woman came out of the kitchen with a glass of white wine and a gray cashmere robe.

The robe was mine.

I had bought it with my first paycheck after I left the Army because Colby said I deserved something soft.

Whitney Ruddock looked me over with a mild interest.

"You must be the ex."

"I'm here for Mrs. Reece's medication."

"I'm sure it's in the kitchen. I haven't touched it."

She sipped her wine.

"She keeps calling me the new girl. I told Colby it was cute, but it's getting to be a lot."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Bye, Mr. Ex! from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.