He Made Her His Bride to Punish Me for Jealousy novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Dawson at the Table

The Thornbury dining table sat twenty, and on Sunday night every chair at it was full.

Constance had put me on her right, with my mother's wheelchair beside me, and Dawson at the far end by himself.

Dawson's uncle, his aunt and four cousins who ran the lumber yards ate roast chicken and did not look at him.

When the plates were cleared, Constance tapped her water glass with a spoon.

"My grandson has something to say," she said. "He'll say it standing."

Dawson stood.

His hands were flat on the white tablecloth, and I could see them shaking.

"Three months ago, I let Margo Winslow convince me that Kerry's jealousy was a flaw," he said. "I thought I could fix it."

"I wrote down every time she asked me a question about Margo. I gave Margo the answers. I gave her the days."

"The anniversary, the morning of June's surgery, the wedding."

Nobody at the table made a sound.

"I sat in the cafeteria while Kerry waited alone for six hours," he said. "I told myself I was being kind to her. She had asked me where I was, and I took that as a symptom."

"It wasn't a symptom," he said. "It was an alarm, and I turned it off."

He looked at me then, down the whole length of the table.

I did not help him.

I had decided that on the drive over. I would not nod or soften my face, and I would not let anyone in that room think I'd forgiven him because he was crying.

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