I Left Him at the Altar, So the Best Man Took Me Off the Island novel · Chapter 17 of 40

Chapter 17: Fourth of July

The Fourth of July in Port Gannet began with a parade of nine fire trucks and ended with fireworks off the fish pier.

In between there was a bandstand on the town green, and at two o'clock Constance Pettengill climbed onto it.

She wore white linen and her pearls.

Behind her, hung from the bandstand rail, was a banner four feet tall.

PETTENGILL LANDING. THE FUTURE OF PORT GANNET.

I stood at the back of the crowd between Fern and his wife, with an ice cream going soft in my good hand.

"Friends," Constance said into the microphone. "Neighbors. I want to thank you for a wonderful holiday."

A few people applauded.

"My late husband loved this harbor. He believed it could be more than it was." She smiled. "Today I'm proud to announce that Pettengill Marine will invest forty million dollars in the waterfront."

A murmur went through the green.

"A marina, a boardwalk, a hotel, and a hundred and twenty jobs," she said. "It will begin with the old yard, and it will take in the Ouellette Point, which will be ours before the year is out."

Fern's wife made a small, sharp sound.

I had stopped holding the ice cream.

It slid off the cone onto the grass, and I didn't look at it.

"Ours before the year is out," Constance repeated sweetly. "A family matter, as they say. We're very hopeful."

She smiled out over the crowd.

I walked to the front.

It was forty yards.

People turned as I passed.

Someone said my name, quietly, and someone else said, "Let her through."

I stepped up the bandstand steps.

Constance saw me coming.

The smile held, but her hand tightened on the stand.

"Genevieve, dear," she said, with the microphone still open. "What a nice surprise."

"May I?" I said.

"Of course."

She stepped aside, because she couldn't think what else to do in front of the whole town.

I took the microphone.

My bandaged hand was shaking, and I steadied it against the stand.

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