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

to just

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

look after their

Fabian, and now this family

people would be here soon and

back, he'd investigate who had betrayed him. None of

gaze swept the area, noticing the

Tobias was the age to crave excitement, yet he was nowhere to be

his cane, Abner decided to head

spotted Tobias, huddled

obviously scared out of

"Tobias?"

call made Tobias drop to

a moment for Tobias

handsome, are we

his face; the boy's lips were

did the dead

"No, no, I just..."

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

argument, followed

and detached, nothing like her usual gentle demeanor

hidden, not making a

too young to grasp the concept of murder and thought Phoebe might