Married as a Dare? Sorry, It's for Life novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Eleven O'Clock

At six on Friday morning, someone knocked again.

Nathan had not slept.

He opened the door in yesterday's shirt.

Bowen stood on the porch in the gray dawn with his jacket dry and his eyes wrecked.

"I walked home," he said. "Three miles."

"Come in."

"She was asleep on the couch with the television on." Bowen stepped into the hall and stayed there, rigid. "She texted me she was scared at twelve-forty. She was asleep by one."

Nathan shut the door.

"Bowen."

"She wasn't scared. She was asleep with her mouth open." Bowen's voice shook. "I stood in the doorway for an hour. And then I started doing what I should've done on the first day."

"What's that?"

"Asking questions."

Nathan led him into the kitchen and put a mug of coffee in his hands.

Bowen held it without drinking.

"I never asked you where you were on the first," he said. "The night of the photo. I never asked."

"I'll tell you now."

"Tell me."

Nathan sat across from him at the kitchen table.

It was his grandmother's table, with a burn mark by the sugar bowl.

"Wednesday, the first," Nathan said. "I took minutes at the commissioners' meeting, six to ten at the courthouse. You came late for the culvert vote. You sat in the back."

"I remember."

"We walked out together."

"Yeah."

"You asked if I wanted pie."

Bowen's hands tightened on the mug.

"We drove out to the Bluebird in separate cars. We took the back booth. We sat there until the waitress turned the sign. That was twelve-thirty." Nathan watched his face. "I drove straight home. I live alone. I spoke to no one until Thursday."

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