Love After Layoffs novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: Sunday Table

Justin's mother lived in a brick row house in Brookline with plastic runners on the carpet and a crucifix over every door.

Brooks stayed in the car at the curb.

I had asked him to, and he'd looked at me.

She opened the door before I knocked.

"You came," she said. "I made a roast."

The dining room table was set for four, with her good plates and cloth napkins folded into triangles.

Justin sat at the far end in a sweater, unshaven, with his eyes on his plate.

At the near end, in a camel coat she hadn't taken off, sat Savannah.

"Hello, Janine," she said.

I didn't answer her.

"We'll start with grace," Justin's mother said, and bowed her head for a moment. "Now. My son made mistakes. All men make mistakes."

"He forged my name on a ninety-thousand-dollar loan."

"There was a misunderstanding about consent."

"Ma'am, he used a lapsed notary stamp."

"He was under pressure!" she said, and her voice cracked across the plates. "Somebody put that boy under terrible pressure."

Her eyes slid down the table to Savannah.

"Somebody who held my hand at Thanksgiving and told me she would be his wife," she said.

Savannah set down her fork.

"I told you nothing of the kind."

"You told me he was the best thing that ever happened to you."

"I tell everyone that, dear. It's manners."

Justin looked up, slowly.

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