He Made Me Hear Her, So I Took My House Back novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Yellow Roses

Rafael came on Saturday at dusk, with two dozen yellow roses and a face I had not seen on him before.

He stood at the gate and did not use his key.

"Can I come in?" he asked. "Just to the porch."

I stood on the top step with my arms folded.

"You taped a default notice to my door last night."

"I know. I'm sick about it."

His eyes were red. He had not shaved.

"My mother made me do it, Odette. She has made me do everything since I was nine."

I let that sit in the evening air.

Inside the kitchen window, behind the curtain, Dahlia's phone lay face up on the pantry shelf with the recorder running.

She had put it there an hour before, and then she had gone to stand behind the pantry door with a dish towel and a face of pure delight.

"Come up," I said.

He came up the steps and held out the roses.

I took them and set them on the porch rail.

"I was wrong about you," he said. "You're not dull. You're the only honest person I know."

"You said it in front of Dahlia."

"I said what my mother wrote." He pressed his fingers against his eyes, and when he took them away he was crying. "I miss you. I miss the tamales. I miss you at the end of the table, waiting for me to come home."

I had waited a year for that sentence.

I felt nothing at all, and the nothing was a relief.

"Rafael," I said. "Say the part about my father."

His hands dropped.

"What part?"

"The part where you put a pen in his hand."

He studied me. The tears dried on his face, and I watched it happen.

"Who's in the kitchen?" he said.

"Nobody."

"That's the second time you've lied to me. You're getting good at it." He picked a rose off the rail and twisted off the head. "Fine. Your father was going to lose that house anyway. The land was gone. I only moved the date."

"You moved it onto his deathbed."

"He signed because he wanted you to have a husband who could carry you. Ask him."

← Chapter 13 · All chapters · Chapter 15 →

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