He Shielded Her, So I Left the Club novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Lie

"It's not my test," I told Delilah. "It's your club's rule, and it's the president's call."

"Then ask him to wait."

"Why would I do that?"

She let go of my sleeve.

Her mouth opened, and what came out was only breath.

"I'm tired of being the Haskell girl," she said finally. "That's all."

It was a lie, and she knew I knew.

Behind her, down the hall, Hattie coughed in her sleep, and Delilah turned toward the sound.

"You've got till tomorrow to tell somebody the real reason," I said.

I went back out to the truck.

The president called an emergency table at noon on Saturday, because Gage had filed his petition.

The back room smelled the same as it had on Thursday.

Jared couldn't come in, and I could see his shoulders through the door glass, out in the lot, leaning on his bike with his arms crossed.

Dot sat beside me with a manila envelope on her lap and her reading glasses pushed up in her hair.

"Gage Monroe," the president said wearily. "State the grievance."

"My wife has been sleeping with my cousin."

"Your wife," the president said, "was put out by this table on Sunday for shaming you. She has been living in a treasurer's spare room since."

"The treasurer's wife is lying for her."

"I'd be careful with that," Dot said sweetly.

She put the envelope on the table.

"Maysville Regional's admission sheet for a four-year-old girl named Hattie Haskell, brought in Friday evening with a fever of a hundred and five. Dehydrated. The 'accompanying adults' line has two names on it. Mara Teasdale. Jared Slattery."

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