The Fake Debutante and the True Billionaire novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Christmas Eve at Harbor Pines
On Christmas Eve, at four o'clock, my brother stood at the end of the longest corridor in Harbor Pines.
The lobby lay at the other end, forty yards of linoleum away, with a Christmas tree blinking in its window.
Tenny had both hands on the walker and his headphones round his neck.
"Don't count," he said.
"I wasn't."
"You were moving your mouth."
"I'm praying."
"Pray quieter."
The physical therapist stood behind him with her hands behind her back.
Tavy stood in a sweater with a reindeer on it.
The whole night staff stood in a row along the wall with their arms folded, pretending not to cry.
Even the nurse who sang flat was there.
She wouldn't look at me.
"Right," said Tenny. "Here I go."
His left foot dragged, as it always did.
He lifted it anyway.
I did not count.
The nurse who sang flat did it for me, out loud, in a small cracked voice.
One by one the others joined her.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Tenny's face streamed with sweat.
At the lobby doors he stopped and put one trembling hand on the glass.
He turned around with the biggest grin I had ever seen.
"Forty yards," he said. "Put it on the chart."
The whole corridor roared.
Carlisle was standing outside in the cold, in a navy overcoat, with a yellow handheld radio in his fist.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Fake Debutante and the True Billionaire are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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