519 Invitations Had Her Name, I Cancelled the Wedding novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Board Lunch

Conroy's suit was navy, a little short in the sleeve, and it had been pressed that morning by someone who cared.

He stood on my porch at eleven with his hands in his pockets and told me I looked like a woman who owned a house.

"I do own a house."

"Then wear it."

I wore my mother's gray wool dress and the thin gold chain from my grandmother, and I carried a leather folder with the card, the guest list, and nothing else.

The foundation board met at noon in the private dining room of the Rutledge Club.

Twelve women sat at a long table under a chandelier, with salads in front of them and Constance at the head in a camel blazer.

The doorman at the front steps had checked my name on a clipboard and hesitated.

"She's expected," Conroy said, and took my arm.

Constance saw us through the glass doors before we reached the table.

She rose, and she smiled with her whole face.

"Della, dear. You came. Sit, please, we saved you a place."

The place was at the far end, next to the kitchen door.

"Thank you," I said. "I'll stand."

The table went quiet in a polite way.

My principal sat halfway down on the left with her hands folded, and she did not look at me.

Constance sat again, graceful.

"We were just discussing how best to support a valued teacher in a hard season," she said. "You wanted to say something, didn't you?"

My principal's face went the color of her napkin.

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