Four Men Crept Into My Childhood Room, So I Kept My Eyes Shut novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Out Loud

Pike Hollow came to dinner on Saturday, and it brought its own folding chairs.

Somebody had strung lights between the barn and the porch.

There were casseroles on a long plank table, and a ham, and the pie case from the diner carried out in pieces.

The old woman from the Spur sat at the head of the table in the best chair.

"You eat," she told me, when I tried to carry a dish. "You're the guest."

"It's my house."

"It's about time you acted like it."

The county clerk had driven out herself that afternoon, with the new deed in a clear folder.

Five names, one under another, all recorded.

Bethany Kilbourn.

Clint Ketterman.

Abel Haskins.

Eli Standish.

Lyle Dorsey.

Lyle read it out loud twice, to anyone who stood still.

At dusk Abel tapped a spoon on a glass, and the yard went quiet.

I had not planned a speech.

I stood up on a hay bale with my paper plate in my hand.

"My father died, and I came home to sell a farm," I said. "I didn't. Thank you for the casseroles."

Somebody laughed.

"I also owe you an apology. Most of you saw me on a phone screen, and I told you at the diner it was my choice. I want to say it again, with my clothes on."

More laughter.

"I choose them," I said. "All four. I'm saying it in front of you so it's a fact and not a rumor. Clint. Abel. Eli. Lyle."

I said each name to the person.

Each of them stood where I could see him.

None of them looked away.

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