After a Year of Silence novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Dinner at The Low Tide

I picked The Low Tide for the first dinner because my brother owned it and the lights were low.

Quentin walked in at seven in a gray sweater and no tie, and every regular at the bar turned to look at him.

Quinn was drying a glass behind the counter.

He did not stop drying it.

"Stool at the end," he said. "Not that one. The one by the fire exit."

"Quinn," I said.

"I'm being hospitable."

Quentin sat on the stool by the fire exit without a word.

I sat beside him, with one empty stool between us.

Quinn set down two menus and kept his eyes on Quentin.

"You paid for my father's hospice," he said.

Quentin nodded once.

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't be in the room," Quentin said. "I could do that. So I did."

"It was eleven weeks of care."

"I know what it was."

"And you did not fly out."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I was told she didn't want me there." Quentin turned to me. "And because I was proud, and I let it be an excuse."

The bar had gone quiet around us.

I had not expected him to say it out loud, in front of my brother and four strangers.

"You should have flown," I said.

"Yes."

"You should have knocked on my door and let me throw you out."

"Yes."

"You called once."

"I called once, and then I stopped," he said. "That's the whole thing. I have no better version of it."

My hand had closed hard around my water glass.

I felt it crack before I saw it.

Keep reading free with an account. Start After a Year of Silence from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.