An Anonymous Confession Game Ruined My Wedding novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: Paid in Full

The man in the gray suit opened his leather folder on the hood of the SUV.

He took out a single typed page and a pen.

"Ms. Halvorsen," he said, politely. "The balance on this note is thirty-eight thousand, four hundred and twelve dollars and seven cents, with accrued interest to this morning. I'm told you wished to discuss terms."

"I wish to pay it," Ingrid said.

Brooke's mother smiled and did not look at the dock.

"I wish you could," she said. "But banks do not take promises."

Ingrid turned around and put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

It split the morning in half.

A door opened in the shop. The old man with the gray mustache came out, followed by the other two, and each of them carried something.

Behind them came the bearded fisherman and ten more, in rubber boots, from where they had been waiting out of sight behind the fish stand.

They walked down the ramp in a line.

The old man held a bank envelope. The youngest man held a coffee can with a lid.

"Tuesday night," Ingrid said to me, very low. "That was my errand. I went from boat to boat and told them the truth. Every number."

"You did what?"

"I asked." Her mouth was tight. "I've never asked anyone for anything. I stood on the deck of the Karlsen boat and said, 'I need a year of slip fees up front, and I can't tell you why.' Then I told them why."

I stared at her.

"They knew," the old man said, behind her. "Honey, the whole dock knew. Your father's note, the ex, everything. A town this size has no secrets, only manners."

"You never said."

"You never asked."

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