Dear Ex-wife Marry Me by Twin Bridge

The housekeeper cinto the den with a message that set Fitch's teeth on edge. “Sir, Ms. Bennitt is at the front gate. Should I let

her in?”

Fitch felt an immediate distaste at the thought of seeing her. He had pegged her as a stable sort, never imagining she could stir up

such scandal.

“No,” he replied, his voice sharp with finality. After his brief response, he grabbed his coat from the rack and exited through the

back door.

It wasn’t until he pulled up to the pet store that he realized why he had driven there.

Ozzy was gone, and in a way, it was on his conscience. It only seemed right to get a new puppy for Zoey as a gesture of

atonement.

But as he walked among the rare breeds, his gaze kept being drawn to a memory of a scrappy little gray mongrel that somehow

seemed more sincere, more beautiful than the ones before him.

Hesitating only a moment, he chose a pristine white pup and, carrying it in a crate, inquired about Zoey’s whereabouts.

Learning that she was in the hospital, he immediately set off in that direction.

Halfway there, he realized that he wouldn't normally do such a thing for anyone else. His brow furrowed as he pondered whether it

was his involvement that had dragged Zoey into this mess to begin with.

Pressing the accelerator, he continued toward the hospital.

Zoey's fever had broken, and she was awake, though her lips were cracked and bloody. She said nothing, staring blankly at the

ceiling, haunted by dreams of Ozzy wagging his little tail, and then of Wendy heartlessly dropping him from a height. Pain throbbed

her—there wasn't a place

pattern in her life: everything she tried to hold

in with a steaming bowl of broth and placed

blinked slowly and tried to sit up, her stomach churning at the sight

as she clutched her stomach, “Cornelia, could I have a moment alone,

distress, Cornelia nodded. “I'll leave for now and check on you later. The nurses will bring your meals. Try

lost too much

between the accident and the fever, Zoey had lost a

but found it

out, wearing a hospital gown with the window ajar, letting in a breeze that seemed

threaten to break her.

reality, followed by its opening. She assumed Cornelia had forgotten something and

look up.

made her turn. Standing by the

been yesterday, Zoey wouldn't have been able

liked Fitch? Liking him was exhausting, painful, and she

inside. “To make it up to you,” he said, his voice as detached as ever, even in

moment of supposed amends.

Zoey blinked, uncomprehending.

mistook her silence for shock, given it was the first the'd cto see her of his

soup and

deliver the word he had

“Get out.”

eyelashes quivered, his brow furrowed.

it at his forehead with

said, get out,” she

but then he

she had withered, the standard-size hospital gown hanging loosely on her frame. Her eyes no

at him, the light

unable to comprehend

while, the best he could muster was,

had cto offer compensation, a gesture of politeness in response to the