He Voted Me Off the Island, So I Left Him Stranded novel · Chapter 18 of 24
Chapter 18: Not Taking Him Back
Brant was sitting on an overturned crate outside the shed with his elbows on his knees.
He had not shaved.
He wore the same quarter-zip he had stood on the island in, and the collar had gone gray.
Ben leaned in the doorway with his arms folded and a mug in one hand.
He straightened when he saw me coming down the pier.
"Say the word," he said quietly, "and I'll walk him to the end of the dock."
"I'll hear him out."
"Fern, you don't have to."
"I know. That's why I'm going to."
Ben looked at me for a moment, then went inside and left the door open a hand's width.
I noticed that, and I almost smiled.
Brant stood up.
He took a small box out of his pocket, a black one, and held it out on his flat palm.
"You left it on the counter," he said.
"I did."
"I went back for it Saturday. I've been carrying it around for four days."
"Put it away, Brant."
"Let me say it first."
I folded my arms and waited.
"I was wrong," he said. "I was so wrong that I can't see how I did it."
He wiped his face with the back of his hand.
"I watched my mother move those slips. Some part of me said Fern would hate this, and I did it anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to be somebody."
"You were somebody. You were the man I was marrying."
His eyes filled.
"I'll tell the board everything," he said. "In writing. Mom's whole plan, the dinner, the title. I'll go on the record. I'll resign from the company if you want."
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