The Name on the Broadcast novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Harvest Supper

I didn't sleep. I lay on my bed in wet jeans and watched the ceiling until the key turned again.

At breakfast Grandma Verna asked if I'd slept well.

"Like a baby," I said.

"Good. Big day."

I texted Ben from the bathroom. Two women, not one. Feed store. Dirt road behind the orchard, 8:30. Lights off.

He answered: Two. Okay. Backseat's clear. I'll be there at 8.

The church at home sits at the top of our orchard. My great-grandfather gave them the land. The hall's back door opens onto the first row of apple trees.

I'd never thought about that before.

Now I thought about it all day.

The hall was full by six.

Long tables with paper cloths. Crock pots in a row. Every house in town, every family, the men in pressed shirts and the children running under the tables.

The brought-home wives were in the kitchen.

There were eleven of them, standing together by the stove while I brought in the tray of rolls.

Some I'd seen my whole life. Some were women I'd thought of as somebody's mother, somebody's aunt. None of them ever ate with the town. They carried, and poured, and wiped, and went home last.

The girl from next door was at the sink.

Beside her, drying the same plate over and over, was a woman I'd never seen.

Maybe twenty-two. Red hair cut short and badly. Eyes swollen nearly shut from crying.

The girl from next door leaned close and whispered in her ear.

The redhead's hands stopped moving on the plate.

She looked at me across the kitchen.

I gave her one tiny nod.

At seven the pastor said grace.

At seven-thirty the hardware man came and stood behind my chair and put his hand flat on my back, between my shoulder blades.

At eight Grandma Verna stood up and tapped her glass with a fork.

The whole hall went quiet.

"I won't keep you from your pie," she said, and everybody laughed. "I just want to share some happy news with my church family."

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