After Lefting Me on the Bridge, He Lost His Mind novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Pecan Pie

I took the elevator down and told myself it was just a man with a pie.

The lobby had a marble floor, a security guard and a receptionist who was pretending to type.

Quinton VanDorn turned when he heard the elevator.

He was tall enough that I had to tilt my head back. He had a canvas coat over a flannel shirt, white chalk dust on one knuckle, and dark eyes that gave me nothing.

"Sabina MacIntyre," he said.

"Yes."

"I'm Quinton. Bryce's brother."

"I know. You look like him, except you didn't smile at me."

"I don't have anything to smile about."

The receptionist stopped typing.

Two women from accounting had stopped by the water cooler, and a man with a coffee had found a reason to stand near the door.

I crossed my arms.

"If Bryce sent you to talk me into coming home, you can take your pie back to New Jersey."

"Bryce doesn't know I'm here."

"Then why are you?"

"My mother sent me," he said. "I'm supposed to ask you something, and I'd like you to answer it in front of witnesses."

"Fine."

"Why did you refuse her for seven years?"

I stared at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"Every Thanksgiving. Every Christmas. Her birthday, mine, every Fourth of July. She set a place and invited you and you turned her down. Politely, every time, with a thank-you." His voice stayed level. "On Wednesday night my brother left you on a bridge, and I can't tell who the liar is anymore. So I'm asking."

"Your mother invited me."

"Seven times a year, for seven years."

"No."

"No?"

"Nobody invited me to anything," I said. "Wednesday was the first time Bryce ever said the words 'my family' and meant me."

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