Antler Crown, Silent Departure novel · Chapter 11 of 24
Chapter 11: Five Months
"Five months," I said.
Malcolm turned around.
The shop lights were off, and only the streetlamp through the window lit the sawdust on the floor.
He looked at me in his own flannel shirt, and I watched him understand that I had read it.
"Bridget, let me explain."
"Five months, Malcolm. Since May."
"Yes."
"You knew about Zack and Lacey since May."
He set the phone on the workbench, face down.
"I saw her coming out of his apartment in May, at six in the morning, in the dress she wore the night before," he said. "I knew what I was looking at."
I held on to the edge of the bench.
"And you said nothing."
"I told Zack to end it or I would tell you myself. He swore he would. He said he'd fix it before the wedding."
"And you believed him."
"He's my brother."
"I was going to marry him!"
My voice cracked off the brick walls.
"I asked you," I said. "At the rehearsal dinner on Friday. I found you on the patio. I said, is there anything I should know. I said, you can tell me."
He did not look away.
"I remember."
"You said Zack loves me. You were looking at your beer."
"I know what I said."
"You looked at me, in front of my own dinner, and you lied."
"I was waiting for him to keep his word," Malcolm said, and his voice was rough. "I thought I'd be the one who ruined your life if I got it wrong."
"You didn't get it wrong. You got it late."
He flinched.
"Everybody in that hotel could see it coming," I said. "The photographer, the florist, Lacey's mother, you. The only person in the building who didn't know was me. And not one of you warned me."
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