The Men Who Walked Out novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Four Twelve

I woke at four on the ninth of February, because some part of me knew what the hour was.

The sewing room was dark, and the house was cold.

Elliot's side of the bed was empty, and the sheets were not warm.

He had not touched me in five days, not since the drive in Newport.

He had slept on the couch, and said he was working, and I had let him say it.

I put on his sweater and went down the stairs.

A light was on in the kitchen.

My father sat at the table in his robe with a cup of tea and his open wallet.

The hospital bracelet lay flat in front of him, smoothed out.

"Dad."

"It's four-ten," he said. "I thought I'd be up. I didn't expect company."

"Where's Elliot?"

"On the porch." He looked at the clock over the stove. "He's been out there since midnight."

I opened the front door.

Elliot sat on the top step in his coat with a mug beside him, the porch light off, and his breath showing in the street lamp.

He didn't turn around.

"Happy birthday," he said. "It vested at midnight. You hold a quarter of Larkin."

"I know."

"The lead director will call at nine. She'll offer you the title and the seat. You'll take them, and you should."

"Elliot."

"I read the terms once. I know what that is. It's a great deal of money and a mother who may need you."

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