They Never Picked Up My Calls, So I Made Dolls That Answer novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Second Place

The microphone squealed once.

Gracie held it in both hands.

"My name is Gracie Calvert," she said. "And the Gracie Doll is my sister's doll."

Colby reached for her arm.

"Babe."

She stepped out of reach.

"I took one off her ward last summer," she said. "I told a nurse it was for my nephew. I don't have a nephew. Colby saw it on my nightstand and took it to the office the next day."

"She's confused," Colby said to the room. "She's under a lot of stress. Her book."

Gracie took out her phone, held it to the microphone and pressed play.

Glasses.

Laughter.

Colby's warm, pleased voice, filling two hundred chairs.

Somebody laughed in the press rows and then stopped.

"Seriously, we should send her a fruit basket."

Gracie stopped it.

Colby's face had gone a color I'd never seen on him.

"That's out of context," he said.

Nobody answered him.

My mother stood up in the front row.

"Gracie. Sit down. You're not well, sweetheart."

Gracie looked at her.

For one second she was sixteen again.

I saw it.

Her shoulders came up and her chin went down.

Then she took a breath and turned back to the room.

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