He Called My Inheritance a Forgery in Front of Three Hundred Guests, Then Took Every Blow Meant for Me novel · Chapter 21 of 40

Chapter 21: The Vote

I didn't turn around.

I kept my hands around my coffee cup so he wouldn't see them shake.

"He's not late," I said. "He's careful."

"Sure he is," said the man behind me.

I heard him tear open a sugar packet.

"Mr. Thorndike asked me to pass something along," he said.

"The old man isn't coming north. Not today. Not ever. Mr. Thorndike's sure about that."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a weather report, Miss Bradbury. Roads are bad this time of year. You'd know."

The vinyl creaked.

He was leaning closer.

I could smell his cigarettes.

The same smell as the butts under the oak.

"Your boyfriend's arm," he said, very low. "How's that healing up?"

Then a stool scraped at the counter.

Kendrick stood up.

He took his ball cap off and set it on the counter.

He walked down the aisle, not fast, and stopped beside the booth.

Between the man and me.

His cast was across his chest in the black sling.

His good hand hung loose at his side.

"Ask me," Kendrick said.

The driver looked up at him.

For a second neither of them moved.

The waitress at the register had stopped counting change.

"Ask me how it's healing," Kendrick said. "I'm right here."

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