He Chose My Sister, So I Left Him With Nothing novel · Chapter 27 of 32

Chapter 27: The Night Before

The news van turned its camera on me as soon as the sheriff's car pulled away.

I didn't give it anything.

I walked down to the water's edge, past the judges' tent, until my boots were wet.

Hayes followed me.

He stood beside me in the shallows with his hands in his pockets.

"You okay?" I said.

"He shoves like a guy who's never moved a rack."

"You let him do it twice."

"I wanted the camera to get a good angle." He squinted out at the lake. "Buckley. I want to ask you something, and I want you to say no if it's stupid."

"Most things you ask me are stupid."

"This one's worse."

He turned to face me.

"Fire it with me tomorrow. One show. Blue Hour and Moss. Your design, my barges, both crews."

I stared at him.

"We each built a show," I said. "We're entered against each other."

"You built both shows. I just watched." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and pointed at the water. "Mine starts low and quiet with the loons. Yours ends loud with the blue. Every planning night, you kept saying the same thing. 'This bit of his would go perfect after this bit of mine.'"

"I never said that."

"You said it a dozen times. Patty counted."

Behind us, Patty called out, "Twelve."

I didn't turn around.

"They'll never allow a joint entry."

"Your insurance already says we're one operator of record." He shrugged. "The committee chair said it's allowed if one company withdraws and both licenses sign the new entry. I asked her this morning. Before the test."

"Before the test? What if I'd lost?"

"Then we'd have had a worse day and a better show."

I laughed. I couldn't help it.

Out on the lake, a sailboat was coming about in the wind. The water was dark blue and choppy.

I'd beaten him twice.

I'd wanted to beat him a third time with him on the water. I'd said so in a bank lot.

And now I didn't want to stand on the beach and watch his loons fire for somebody else's judges.

I wanted to hear them start my show.

"Yes," I said.

He let out his breath.

"Yes?"

"Yes. Go withdraw before I think about it."

He went straight back up the beach to the tent.

He didn't run, but it was close.

By noon, Moss Brothers had withdrawn and both of our signatures were on a single entry form.

Hayes signed with his whole hand this time. Not his fist.

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