Dear Ex-wife Marry Me by Twin Bridge

Abner had already made the call; his ride would be swinging by to pick him up shortly.

He had just finished a cigarette, a furrow creasing his brow. He didn't mind the cheap nicotine kick, but it always left a bitter

aftertaste in his mouth.

The sound of panicked voices drifted over to him, followed by the thudding footsteps of someone running in a frenzy.

"Queena, you gotta check this out, Phoebe just keeled over. She's in a bad way."

Pretending she was just hearing the news, Queena immediately dropped the axe she was holding.

Without giving Abner another glance, she bolted towards the commotion.

Abner kept his spot, puffing away. In his other hand, he fumbled with a match he'd nicked from the stove.

He sauntered toward the scene of the incident, only to find the cook who had given him the cigarette sobbing over a woman's

lifeless body.

The faces of the onlookers were grim; Queena had delivered the bleak news with a blunt, "She's a goner."

In just a short span, another life had slipped away—the gossipy Phoebe, of all people.

Murder wasn't a thought that crossed their minds; they simply couldn't fathom it. They chalked it up to a sudden, inexplicable

death.

urging the crowd to

the pallor of the deceased woman. Her robust frame, borne of years of farm work,

to just

was no doctor; he could only cast a suspicious glance towards

after

and now this family was struck by

people would be here soon and in three days' time,

who had betrayed him. None of this was his

area, noticing

age to crave excitement, yet he

decided to head over

spotted

was ghost-white, obviously scared out of

"Tobias?"

call made Tobias drop to

a moment for Tobias to

we

his face; the boy's lips were bitten raw, a clear sign

dead

"No, no, I just..."

who to tell. In a moment of mischief, he'd hidden away

followed

so cold and detached, nothing

hidden,

grasp the concept of murder and thought Phoebe might have