Not Every Home Is Meant to Be Returned To novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Strawberry Shortcake

By six o'clock the house smelled like a bakery.

I had not asked anyone to cook.

I had carried my backpack into my old room by the front door and put the ribbon-tied envelopes under my pillow.

Then I heard the oven door, and my mother's voice singing in the kitchen.

She never sang.

Kenzie had stayed. She stood in the hall with her arms folded, listening.

"This is going to be weird," she whispered.

"It's already weird."

"Dinner!" Mom called. "Hazel, honey, come sit. I made your favorite."

I had never in my life been told what my favorite was.

The dining room table was set for six with the good plates.

Dad sat at one end in a clean shirt, and Lacey sat with her hands in her lap. Maisie had her rabbit in her chair.

My mother set a glass dish in front of my place, with a flourish.

It was shortcake, with cream piled high and a thick red layer of sliced strawberries.

"Strawberry shortcake," she said. "From scratch. You always loved it."

I looked at the dish, and I looked at her.

"Mom," Maisie said in a clear little voice. "Hazel can't eat strawberries."

"Maisie, honey, eat your chicken."

"She can't. Her face puffs up. She went to the hospital when she was six, and Grandma held her hand. Lacey told me."

Lacey's head came up. "I did."

Dad shifted in his chair. "She grew out of that."

"I didn't," I said.

I said it flatly, and nobody at the table moved.

"I'm allergic to strawberries, Mom. I've been allergic my whole life. Dad promised Maisie strawberry ice cream on my birthday, right in front of me, and he didn't know."

← Chapter 13 · All chapters · Chapter 15 →

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