Chapter 13: The Letter

The Strathmore Foundation dinner filled the Lakeshore Grand's biggest ballroom, three hundred people at round tables under a ceiling of white lights.

Becky came in on Kendrick's left, in the green dress with nothing behind it but her own skin.

She felt his hand settle at the base of her spine, flat and warm, and it was the only thing in the room she was sure of.

"Breathe," he said, low.

"I am."

"You're gripping my chair."

She let go of the handle, and he laughed once through his nose.

Wendell waited at the head table with his cane across his knees and a pleased look on his face.

"There she is," he said. "Sit by me, girl, and watch the door."

Colby's father sat two tables over, alone, in a suit that fit him again.

He met her eyes, and he nodded once.

The soup came, and nobody ate it.

Then the doors at the far end opened, and the room turned its head.

Vanessa walked in on Colby's arm, in a long cream gown with her honey hair down her back.

Around her neck, on a gold chain, hung a green stone the size of a plum.

Becky heard Kendrick stop breathing.

She put her hand over his on the table.

"Not yet," she said. "Let her walk all the way in."

Vanessa crossed the whole ballroom with her chin up, smiling at people she did not know.

She stopped at the head table and laid a hand on her chest, over the stone.

"Kendrick," she said, in the soft voice. "I know this is hard. I'm so glad you kept your promise."

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