Chapter 16: The Chat on the Table

Grandma took her glasses off, wiped them on the blanket, and put them back on.

She picked up the plastic bag with two fingers and held it close to her face.

"Hannah," Mom said. "Whatever this is, it can wait until pie."

"It's one line, Mom."

Grandma read the slip slowly, the way she read the church bulletin.

"Quantity four only. Names as listed." She paused. "Hannah is moving out in December. No fifth needed."

No one at the table moved.

"Who wrote that?" Grandma said.

"Chad," I said. "He told the bakery."

Chad put down his fork.

"I wrote it," he said. His voice was small. "Because I was told."

"Told by whom?" Mom asked.

Chad looked at Lacey.

"Chad," Lacey said, gently. "You don't have to say anything."

"Yes, he does," I said.

I took the folded pages out of my pocket and laid one in front of Mom, one in front of my aunt, and one in front of Grandma.

"This is a chat the four of them had in October," I said. "Lacey, Tobias, Chad and Zelda. It's dated. Zelda took the screenshot."

Mom stared at the paper.

She read the first message, and her lips moved.

She read the second.

"This says I'm moving in with Emmett in January," I said. "This is the man sitting next to me. I met him on November third."

Emmett said nothing.

He looked straight at my mother, and he did not look away.

"He moved in on the third of November," I said. "Lacey wrote this on October fourteenth, three weeks before I knew his name."

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