My Mother Recognized My Fake Fiance From an Autumn Night Five Years Ago
I left it there and went out into the driveway, where the sun was beginning to dip below the tree line.
Christopher was standing near the front bumper of my sedan, his hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, his eyes watching the dry leaves blow across the asphalt.
My father was already there, holding a thick white envelope in his hand.
“This is twenty thousand dollars,” my father was saying as I approached. “It is the maximum I could withdraw from the savings account without Olivia’s signature.”
Christopher looked at the envelope but did not reach for it immediately.
“And the rest?” Christopher asked, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “The registry will need the full amount paid before they clear the record of default.”
“I will sell the cabin in the spring,” my father said. “The title is in my name alone. I can have the remaining twenty-five thousand to you by May.”
Christopher brushed his left coat lapel with his thumb, his gaze shifting from my father to the dry leaves on the pavement.
“I do not want her in a cell,” Christopher said. “I only wanted my life back.”
