I Won $1 Billion and Ditched the Deadbeats novel · Chapter 7 of 24
Chapter 7: Sudden Love
The coat arrived at the Gas-N-Go on Thursday at noon, after the store took in the hem.
It came in a white box with a ribbon.
I was standing at the counter when the delivery man handed it to Lana.
She looked at the box.
She looked at me.
"I told you no."
"You told me no thank you. This isn't thank you. Your zipper's broken."
"My zipper is fine."
"It's open to your stomach."
She pressed her lips together to stop a laugh, and lost.
She lifted the lid, pushed back the tissue paper, and went quiet.
She ran one hand down the gray wool as if it might bite.
"It's the right size," she said.
"I asked the saleswoman to guess."
"She guessed perfectly."
"She said you looked like a size six who argues a lot."
Lana held the coat against her chest and glared at me over the collar.
"I hate this," she said, and put it on.
It fit her shoulders exactly.
She looked up, and the light caught her freckles, and I forgot what I'd been about to say.
Then the bell over the door jingled.
"Tanner!"
My mother came in with her arms already open.
She had a cake box in one hand and Shelby on her heels.
Behind them were Kyle, with his jaw yellowing, and my father in his Sunday shirt.
Every one of them was smiling.
It was the most frightening thing I had seen all week.
"Oh, my baby." My mother dropped the cake on the counter and grabbed my face with both hands. "I was so wrong. I was horrible. I lay awake all night."
"Mom."
"A mother knows when she's made a mistake. I was scared. I was scared you were in trouble, and I said terrible things."
Her eyes filled right on schedule.
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