Chapter 7: My Mother's Robe

"Take off my mother's robe," I said.

Kaitlyn laughed and looked past me at Ruthann.

Then she saw the car seat.

"Oh my God, is that her? Can I see?"

She actually leaned forward with her coffee.

Ruthann turned the car seat away so fast the orange pompom bounced.

"No," Ruthann said.

Kaitlyn pouted at her.

"Okay, rude. Sis, come in, it's freezing. I didn't know you were coming. Reece said you'd be at the hospital for weeks."

"Reece told you a lot of things. Take off the robe."

"It's just a robe. It was in a chest in the back bedroom. It's so cozy."

"It was in a cedar chest with my mother's name on the lid."

Across the street, a door opened.

The old man who'd shoveled my father's walk every winter after the funeral stepped out in his slippers.

Two doors down, a woman with a stroller stopped on the sidewalk.

Kaitlyn noticed them.

She lowered her voice and smiled harder.

"Andie. You're upset. I get it. Let's not do this on the porch."

"You did it on Instagram. The porch is fine."

I went past her into the front hall.

It smelled like her vanilla candles.

My mother's framed photos were gone from the stair wall.

In their place hung a giant canvas print of Kaitlyn and Reece at a Steelers game, cheek to cheek.

The couch had a pink faux-fur throw on it.

On the coffee table sat a stack of wedding magazines with sticky notes.

I turned around.

"Eleven months," I said. "What did you pay him?"

"Pay who?"

"Rent. Twelve hundred a month. To Reece."

Kaitlyn blinked.

Then she laughed, honestly surprised.

"Rent? Babe. Reece said you'd be grateful somebody was keeping the pipes warm. I was doing you a favor."

Ruthann, still on the porch with my daughter, said, "Uh huh."

"This is my house," I said. "My parents left it to me. My name's the only name on the deed."

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