The Substitute Wife's Farewell

Summary

Gabriel Vance was probably the gentlest person I had ever met.

I had been rejected twenty times because I talked too much. When we first met at a concert, I chatted his ear off for half an hour.

I stopped only when I realized I was rambling, but he looked puzzled and smiled gently at me.

"Keep going, I'm listening."

I fell for him quickly, and we got married.

Three months into our marriage, he spoke pitifully little.

Whether I nearly burned down the house cooking or ended up in the police station for causing trouble, he remained calm and gentle, never speaking more than ten words at a…