I Wanted One Stepbrother, So All Three Claimed Me novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: What She Saw

His mother did not say anything until the dishes were done.

She washed. Kenji dried.

It was ten in the morning, and the whole house was out.

The boys' father had taken Tilda to buy a better tree stand.

Erik and Soren had been sent for groceries with a list in two languages.

Leif was at the hardware store, because there was a light out in the upstairs hall.

Kenji suspected he had volunteered.

"I like this kitchen," his mother said.

"It's a good kitchen."

"It's a kitchen where people have been loved." She passed him a bowl. "I could tell the minute I walked in. It smelled like cedar and toast."

Kenji dried the bowl and did not look up.

She turned off the tap.

She dried her hands on the towel, slowly, and leaned on the counter.

She looked at him: her only child, who was eighteen and had his father's mouth.

"I'm not going to ask you anything," she said.

"Mom."

"Let me say it. I practiced on the plane." She smiled, a little crookedly. "When your father got sick, I made a list of the things I couldn't give you. A lot of them were on it. I couldn't give you a brother. I couldn't give you a house with noise in it. I couldn't give you somebody who would sit up with you at night when you walked, because I had to work, and I was so tired."

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