His Favorite Shirt novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Play It Loud

At eleven I walked onto the terrace in the blue dress, and the talking at the tables stopped.

About forty guests were sitting under white umbrellas over eggs and fruit.

Heath stood at the head table in a dry gray sweater with his hair combed back.

Brielle sat beside him with Posy in her lap, and the woman with the braid sat on her other side.

The man in loafers sat across from her, with the three friends who had held my cards.

"Thora," Heath said. He sounded relieved and patient. "Thank you for coming. Everyone's agreed we'll let yesterday go, if you apologize."

Nobody on the terrace moved.

"To me, to Brielle and to the guests," he added. "And you give the ring back to Brielle. She's earned it by being gracious."

Brielle looked down at her plate, modest and wounded.

I walked past the head table to the glass door where the lodge kept its sound system.

Nolan was leaning in the doorway, a coil of rope over his shoulder.

He looked at my phone and then at the speaker box beside him. He turned the dial up without a word.

"The cable's on the left," he said.

I plugged in the phone.

"Thora," Heath said. "What are you doing?"

"Apologizing," I said. "In my way."

I pressed play.

The terrace speakers carried the sound of the restroom door and then two women laughing.

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