My Regretful Ex-Husband novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: The Blot on the Third Line

On the first Sunday of the month, Daley's Bakery was shut to customers and full of people.

The baker had pushed the tables together in the middle of the floor. A lemon cake sat in the center, still warm.

Ruth sat at the head of the table in her lilac cardigan, with her braid over one shoulder.

She was clear this morning.

She had looked at Wren's stomach, said "Well, finally," and asked for tea.

Camille sat beside her with a woman Wren had never met.

The woman was thirty or so, in a gray coat, and held a cream envelope against her chest.

The notary was at the end, with his register open.

Hallie leaned on the wall beside the oven, in jeans, glaring at the door.

Jonas stood by the window.

He had not eaten, and he had barely spoken since seven.

In the kitchen Wren had put a hand on his back and felt his shirt damp under it.

At eleven, the bell rang.

Margaret came in with the morning light behind her, in a cream coat and her pearls.

A young woman with a notebook followed her, and behind her a man with a camera bag.

"I hope we're not late," Margaret said brightly. "Ravenport's paper has been so keen to meet the real Wren Hollister."

She looked at the table, and her eyes stopped on Ruth.

"Ruth, dear. How well you look."

"Hello, lady with the folder," Ruth said, and took a bite of cake.

Margaret's smile did not move.

"Before you begin," Jonas said.

Every head turned.

He stepped away from the window into the middle of the floor.

The reporter lifted her notebook.

The photographer raised his camera, and Jonas looked straight into it.

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