Not Every Home Is Meant to Be Returned To novel · Chapter 15 of 24

Chapter 15: The Casserole Women

The casseroles arrived at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon.

From my bedroom window, I watched four women on the walk, each carrying a covered dish with a name taped to the foil.

The pastor's wife came first, in a lavender cardigan.

Behind her, climbing out of a dusty station wagon with a Toledo plate, was my aunt.

I had not seen her since Grandma's funeral.

Kenzie was on my bed with her feet up. "Do you want me to go out there?"

"No. I want you to sit in the kitchen and listen."

"Sit and listen. I can do that."

My mother opened the front door before anyone knocked.

She had put on a gray dress and no jewelry. Her eyes were wet.

"Oh, thank you for coming," she said, and she let the pastor's wife hold her.

I stood in my bedroom doorway and watched it.

It was good. It was very good.

By the time they were settled in the living room, with the dishes lined up on the coffee table, my mother had told them I was exhausted.

"We just want her home," she said. "She's a sweet girl. She has been under so much pressure."

"We all pray for her," said a woman with white curls.

"And this," the pastor's wife said, and drew a white envelope from her purse. "The women gathered it up yesterday. It isn't much. It's for her counseling, Marjorie, or whatever she needs."

"Twenty-four hundred dollars," said the woman with the curls. "Everyone gave something."

My mother took the envelope in both hands and bowed her head.

I walked into the living room.

Every face turned.

"Hello," I said. "I'm Hazel. I'm the girl you collected the money for."

The pastor's wife stood up. "Hazel, dear. We're so glad to see you looking well."

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