My Tribal Rule Said Marry Or Matchmake novel · Chapter 21 of 32

Chapter 21: Second Supper

The notice was nailed to the church door with a roofing nail, right through the middle of the hymn schedule.

HARVEST MEETING CALLED. TUESDAY, 6 P.M., COMMUNITY HALL. MOTION: DISSOLVE THE HOLLOW FUND AND SELL ITS SHARES.

At the bottom, in round curly handwriting, was Breanne's mama's name and the word Secretary.

Jeb stood beside me with his arms folded.

"Thirteen families, one vote each," he said. "Seven dissolves it."

"How many does he have?"

"Crabtrees make one. The rest, I don't know."

Behind us, a cane thumped on the church steps.

The elder came up slow, one step at a time, and read the notice with his nose almost on the paper.

"Huh," he said.

"Can she do that?"

"She can. Nobody's ever been fool enough to." He turned around. "Imogene home?"

"Since yesterday."

"Then the second supper's tonight."

"Granny can't sit at your table yet. The doctor said a week in the recliner."

The old man pointed his cane up the hollow toward Granny's yellow house.

"Then my table goes to her."

***

They came at five, the whole Easterly family, in four trucks.

They brought the food in roasting pans and the kids on the tailgates.

Jeb and two of his uncles carried the elder's walnut table up Granny's porch steps in three pieces and pegged it back together in her front room.

It took up the whole room. Granny's recliner sat at the head of it.

Granny had made me put on her favorite of my dresses, a yellow cotton sundress with little buttons all down the front.

"You look like a daffodil," she said. "Good. Let him look."

Jeb came in from the truck in a clean white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

He stopped in the doorway and looked at me.

His mama elbowed him in the ribs on her way past with the ham.

"Close your mouth, son. You'll catch flies."

The supper was loud and long.

The little girl from the bench sat on the arm of Granny's recliner and fed her bites of cornbread.

"Mamaw says you nearly died."

"I did," said Granny. "Wasn't so bad. Pass the butter."

"You're not supposed to have butter," I said.

"Then pass it to me slow."

Jeb pulled out my chair.

His knee found mine under the table before the blessing was over.

It stayed there through two helpings and three kinds of pie.

Nobody talked about the harvest meeting.

Everybody was thinking about it.

When the pie was gone, the elder tapped his water glass with his fork.

← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend