Antler Crown, Silent Departure novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Half of It

Malcolm's POV

The Brannigan boardroom had a long oak table, which I had built for my father eleven years ago.

I knew every joint in it.

Six board members sat along the sides, and my father sat at the head with a legal pad he was not writing on.

I stood at the foot, with no notes and nothing in my hands.

"Malcolm has asked for the floor before item one," my father said. "Go ahead."

I had practiced it in the truck for two nights, and every version had a reason in it.

I threw the reasons out.

"In May I saw Lacey Fairclough leave my brother's apartment at six in the morning," I said. "She was engaged to nobody. My brother was engaged to Bridget Blythe."

Nobody in the room shifted.

"I told Zack to tell her. He said he would, and I believed him because I wanted to. I gave him until the wedding."

"Why?" asked a woman near the middle, a retired banker who had known me since I was in a car seat.

"Because I didn't want to be the one who broke her heart. That was my reason. It wasn't a good one."

I told them about the rehearsal dinner.

I told them that Bridget had asked me a direct question, on a patio, with a beer in her hand, and that I had answered with half a sentence that was a lie.

I told them I had moved her car at 8:40 on the wedding morning, because I knew what was coming, and that I had said nothing at all.

"And in June," I said, "Lacey texted me to ask if I was going to speak up. I wrote back that I wouldn't. I told her to let Bridget have her engagement party."

A man at the end of the table put down his pen.

"That's in writing?" he asked.

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