He Ranked Her First, I Chose Myself novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Boathouse

I called the boathouse on Monday to cancel.

The manager said she could only take a cancellation in person, from someone on the contract, during business hours.

I asked when the next business hours were.

She said Saturday, eleven to two.

Then she said, "Oh, and the groom's mother has a tasting booked Saturday at noon. Should I let her know?"

"No," I said. "I'll tell her myself."

Jodie came with me.

She wore sunglasses and a leather jacket she'd borrowed from her fiancée, and she would not explain why.

"It's a cancellation," I said on the walk along the river. "Not a heist."

"Every cancellation is a little bit of a heist."

The boathouse sat on the Schuylkill with its white trim and its string lights off in the daytime.

I'd tutored chemistry for three summers to pay the deposit.

Nine thousand dollars, in envelopes of twenties, every one of them from some kid in Delaware County who didn't understand moles.

The manager met us in the front hall with a binder.

"Ms. Archer," she said. "I'm so sorry for whatever this is."

"Thank you."

"Mrs. Cantrell is already inside."

Through the glass doors, I could see the long table by the window.

Judson's mother sat at the end of it in a camel coat with her pearls on, cutting a crab cake into very small pieces.

She looked up.

She saw me.

She went on cutting.

I went in.

"Hello, Mrs. Cantrell."

"Maura." She took a sip of white wine. "Judson said you might come. He said you'd come to your senses by now."

"I came to cancel."

She set her fork down at a perfect angle.

"Sit."

"I'll stand. It's quick."

"Everything's quick with your generation." She folded her hands. "Do you know what you're throwing away? A Cantrell. A surgeon. A family that could have opened every door in this city for you."

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