Chapter 9 — Oliver apologizes to Chloe and examines the damaged contents together
“I am sorry, Chloe,” Oliver said.
His voice was hoarse and quiet.
“I should never have raised my voice at you.”
Chloe kept her gaze fixed on the floor.
“You didn’t believe me,” she whispered.
“I know,” Oliver answered.
“I let my stress over that appliance order completely cloud my judgment.”
“I saw the ruined box and I reacted out of anger.”
“I put the blame on you when I had zero proof.”
“It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right.”
Samantha watched them both carefully.
She kept her hand resting on Chloe’s knee.
“He means it, Chloe,” Samantha said softly.
“He knows he made a serious mistake.”
Chloe finally lifted her head.
She looked into her father’s tired eyes.
She saw the genuine remorse etched across his face.
The heavy tension in her shoulders eased just a fraction.
“Next time, just listen to me first,” Chloe said.
“I promise I will,” Oliver replied quickly.
“Word of honor.”
Chloe gave a small, weary nod.
“Okay,” she murmured.
“Let’s go look at the delivery together,” Oliver suggested.
“Maybe we can salvage something before it’s completely ruined.”
They walked back toward the entryway together.
The large cardboard box still sat on the hardwood floor near the door.
Samantha followed behind them, switching on the overhead hallway light.
Oliver knelt down beside the sodden container.
He carefully gripped the wet outer flaps.
He pulled them apart with a soft tearing sound.
A wave of damp, musty air rose from inside the box.
Samantha handed Oliver a pair of heavy rubber kitchen gloves.
He slipped them on and reached inside the soggy packing materials.
They began to lift out the ruined layers of protective paper one by one.
Most of the cardboard inserts were completely saturated and fell apart in their hands.
Oliver cleared away the heavy, wet debris from the top section.
He reached his gloved hand deeper down toward the bottom corner of the box.
His fingers brushed against a solid, rectangular shape that felt completely dry.
Oliver pulled the surprising item out from the bottom layer of the box and held it up to the light.