Everyone Had a Key but Me novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Sunday at the Long Table
I went down to the street door myself.
Gabe came with me, in his shirtsleeves, and I took his hand on the second stair and kept it all the way down.
Dario stood in the vestibule with his arms folded.
Behind the glass, on the step in the snow, stood Allegra.
She wore a white wool coat and no gloves, and her blonde hair was flat with melted flakes.
She held a paper grocery bag against her chest with both arms.
When she saw me, she smiled.
It was the old smile, sweet and wide, and it didn't reach her eyes.
I opened the door a hand's width and stayed on my side of it.
"Claire," she said. "I brought you something. Pasta, and a little cheese. I know it's late. I didn't think you'd mind."
"What do you want, Allegra?"
"To come up. Just for tea."
"No."
The smile held.
"I've been on my aunt's sofa in Newark for three weeks. Nobody will take my calls. Not one wife. Dario's mother crossed the street when she saw me." She turned to Gabe, and her voice caught. "Gabe, please. I was lied to. You know I was. I'm all that's left of your mother's table."
"You're not," Gabe said.
He didn't raise his voice.
"My mother's table is Claire's now. You were warned. You lent your key to the man who tried to hang the theft on her. You wore her mother's face on your wrist."
"I said I was sorry!"
"You did."
"Then let me in." Her eyes went to me, and the sweetness slid off her face at last. "You can't be the Donna. You're a girl from an office. You'll never know what to do with a family like his."
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