Chapter 9: The Torn Card

Pennington Auto had hung forty flags and three hundred balloons over its biggest lot.

A flatbed truck made the stage, with red, white and blue bunting around the edge.

The crowd stood in rows of folding chairs, with news cameras at the back and a banner that read *FAMILY FIRST*.

I sat on a folding chair at the side of the stage in a borrowed navy dress.

My hands were cold, and Roz had made me eat a banana.

She and Clyde stood near the back of the crowd, and I could see them both.

Clyde had not said a word on the drive over.

He had only looked at me once, in the lot, and nodded.

Brice walked up the steps to loud applause.

"Friends," he said. "Neighbors. I'm a man who believes in family."

He talked for ten minutes.

He talked about church, about coaching Little League, and about forgiveness.

Cassidy stood at his shoulder, glowing.

In the front row sat Milo, in a white shirt and a clip-on tie.

A woman from Brice's office sat beside him with a hand on his arm.

Milo was looking at me, and not at his father.

"And today," Brice said, "a member of my family is here to make a very brave apology."

He turned and held out his hand.

I climbed the steps.

The applause was thin.

I could feel three hundred people deciding what I was.

Cassidy handed me a microphone and a printed card.

"Just read it, Leona," she whispered. "It's short."

I looked down.

*I'm sorry for the pain I have caused my family. I am grateful to my husband for his forgiveness.*

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