On the day we were supposed to discuss our wedding date, Derek Lawson pinned my photo to the ‘free’ board at the community flea market.
In the price field, his best friend, Tori Bennett, had scrawled “one cent.”
Beside it, she’d written:
*Five-year relationship. Clingy. Comes with eight old quilts. All sales final.*
By the time I reached Fairmount Park, Tori was already shouting into the event organizer’s megaphone.
“Derek’s sick of her. Whoever wants to take over today can have her for free.”
“Age doesn’t matter. Her biggest selling point? She’s desperate to get married!”
The crowd laughed.
A woman shopping for her divorced son grabbed my arm. She sized me up, decided I was too skinny, and demanded that Derek throw in a car.
He actually started to negotiate with her.
“The car is fine, but you have to make sure your son doesn’t let her run back to her own apartment. She’s too clingy. He’ll have to keep her in line.”
I jerked my arm out of the woman’s grip.
Only then did Derek pull me to his side, speaking as if nothing had happened.
“You’ve been hounding me about the wedding date every day. I can’t breathe.”
“Spend one afternoon here, and you’ll see that no one else is willing to take you. Then maybe you’ll learn how to treat me.”
Tori shoved the megaphone toward my mouth.
“Come on, Lydia, sell yourself a little. If you fix that attitude, maybe someone will actually want you.”
His friends were all filming. In their group chat, they were taking bets on how long it would take before I broke down and begged him to tear down the poster.
I looked past the crowd and saw a familiar face.
Everett Hale’s mother was standing in front of the board, pulling out the thumbtack and slowly tearing the poster down.
I borrowed a phone from one of the market organizers and dialed the number I knew by heart.
“Everett, change your ticket to Boston. Make it two.”
“Come get me, and I’ll go with you.”
He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 10 “Before your mother died, she even asked me in private if Derek’s family looked down on the things she was leaving because they weren’t worth much.” “She wanted to give you the money left over from her treatment. I told her to take
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 09 It was just dawn when the train arrived in Boston. The moment Aunt Carol saw me at the exit, she hurried over and wrapped her wool scarf around my neck. “Come home first. The room’s all cleared out. The wardrobe against the wall
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 08 I nudged the bag at my feet farther under the seat. “You took someone else’s one cent and agreed to let her take me home. You can explain that yourself. My marriage is none of your business from now on.” Something crashed on
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 07 Mark held up his phone, thrusting Derek’s incoming call toward me. “Just answer it. He says he’s been trying to call you.” I looked at the screen and realized my phone had somehow been set to silent. Derek’s calls filled the notification bar.
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 06 My Aunt Carol in Boston heard I was coming and sent me the address of a spare room. She said if I needed anything, we could buy it after I arrived. Mrs. Hale was staying with her sister that night and told us
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 05 I took out the key card I’d been keeping for Derek and set it on the stone post by his feet. “The quilts are gone. The wedding is off. Don’t touch my things again.” He stared at the key card, then suddenly reached
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 04 The truck doors shut in their faces. I sent the driver Aunt Carol’s address in Somerville. Everett’s rental car was parked by the curb. When he got out, his sleeves were still rolled up. He came toward us, into the wind, and the
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 03 I grabbed the megaphone hanging from Tori’s chest. She reached for it, and a burst of sharp feedback drowned out the murmuring. “Derek took the money, and he’s the one who agreed to this. If you have questions, ask him. I’ve already broken
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 02 I lunged for his phone. “Those were left to me by my mother. If you dare bring them here—” Derek turned, avoiding me. He didn’t hang up until he’d finished giving the address. “Those quilts were going to be used after the wedding
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He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 01 On the day we were supposed to discuss our wedding date, Derek Lawson pinned my photo to the ‘free’ board at the community flea market. In the price field, his best friend, Tori Bennett, had scrawled “one cent.” Beside it, she’d written: *Five-year
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