After I Stopped Loving Him novel Chapter 72

Ethan’s words left Jordan with nothing else to add.

“Alright, it’s between you and your wife. As long as you’re both happy, I’ll stay out of it. We live so close. No need for me to walk you out.”

Ethan gave a small smile. “No need.”

Their homes were only steps apart. Ethan was almost at his front door when he paused, just standing there in the quiet. He didn’t open the door or ring the bell, just stood lost in thought. After a moment, he turned and walked away from his own place.

He ended up at the Carter house.

Harold Carter had pulled a lounge chair into the yard. He lay back, gazing up at the dark sky, lost in whatever thoughts kept him company at night. The doorbell suddenly rang, cutting through the silence. Harold looked up and saw Ethan at the gate. He quickly stood up.

“Ethan? What brings you here?”

Ethan’s voice was cool. “What, I’m not welcome? You and Jesse are something else, you know. Going on vacation without saying a word to me.”

Harold laughed and opened the gate. “Come on, we figured you just got married. This is your time to be alone with your wife. We didn’t want to interrupt.”

Ethan glanced at the single lounge chair as he stepped inside. “Jesse’s not around?”

Harold closed the gate. “He’s got his eye on a girl. He’s been hiding out, chatting with her online.”

“Online? That’s not exactly reliable,” Ethan said. “If he really likes her, he should go after her. What if he’s been talking to someone online all this time and it turns out to be a guy?”

Harold grinned. “He’s met her in person. It was love at first sight, but he’s too shy to make a move. He pulled every string he could with friends just to get her contact info, and now they chat on social media.”

Harold glanced at the money, then at Ethan, shaking his head. “Ethan, seriously, you’ve got this all wrong. You don’t owe me a thing.”

It was just two hundred bucks. For someone like Ethan, that was nothing.

Ethan looked him in the eye. “You bought that kite for my wife, didn’t you?”

That froze Harold in place.

Ethan slipped his wallet back into his pocket, took Harold’s hand, and pressed the cash into it. “Harold, I can afford to buy my wife a kite. I don’t need you doing it for me. Besides, the one you picked out for her was way too childish. It wasn’t even cute.”

Harold could only stand there, speechless.