My Ex-Husband's New Wife Asked Me to Take Him Back novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Thanksgiving

My father said grace for four minutes, which in a Dutch Reformed household is a short one.

The table in his dining room seated six and held nine dishes.

Bernie sat on his right with a green bean casserole she had made for forty years.

Gabe sat across from me in a pressed shirt, and Adele sat at his left elbow with her curls pinned up.

She had brought a pecan pie in a cracked blue dish.

I had invited her myself, on the phone, on Monday.

"Are you sure?" she'd said.

"My father won't carve unless there's an odd number of people at the table."

"That's not a real rule."

"It's a real rule in this house."

Now Wim folded his big hands over his plate and shut his eyes.

"We thank You for the food," he said. "For the new hip, which is working better than the doctor promised and worse than I'd like."

"Amen," said Bernie.

"For the store, and all who stand behind the counter."

"For my daughter, who came home when she was needed."

"For the young man who fixed the panel and the pump."

Gabe studied his plate.

"And for this woman," said my father, and he opened one eye and looked at Adele, "who sent them both back to me."

Nobody moved.

Adele's chin trembled once.

"Amen," my father said, too gruffly, and picked up the carving knife.

The table broke into noise.

Bernie passed the rolls.

Gabe passed the potatoes to Adele.

Their hands touched for an instant, and both of them let go.

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