Excluded and Uninvited novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Diner

"Is it yours?" Katja said.

She had not moved from the counter, and her voice was flat.

"I don't know," I said.

"That's an honest answer."

"We were together three years. I don't know what she's done in the last eight months."

"Then you'll find out."

"Katja."

"I'm not angry," she said. "Go sleep. I'm taking Jo's bed again, because it's the only one."

She went back down the hall.

She didn't say good night, and I understood why.

At noon the next day I sat in a booth at the Silver Spoon diner on Fourth Street, where Brandy and I used to eat pancakes on Sundays.

Jo was two tables back with a newspaper held up in front of her face.

She had insisted on that, and on the sunglasses.

Katja was outside in the truck with her hands on the wheel.

Brandy came in at twelve-fifteen in a loose cream sweater, one hand resting low on her stomach.

She sat across from me and slid an envelope onto the table.

"Cal," she said. "Thank you for coming."

"Is that from a doctor?"

"It's a printout from the app. You can see the dates."

I looked at the paper.

It was a pregnancy tracker screenshot with a due date in it, and her name in the corner and no clinic anywhere.

"What's the name of your doctor?"

"Does it matter?"

"I'd like to call and ask about the ultrasound."

Her eyes filled.

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