Chapter 23: Two Sugars

I read the letter in the booth by the Fir Cone window, with a slice of apple pie in front of me.

Hattie sat across from me with her chin on her fist.

Conall sat beside me, eating his third slice of pie.

Hattie's grandfather had put it in front of him himself and said, "Thank you, son."

Then he had gone back to the grill with wet eyes.

"Read it out," Hattie said.

"It's private."

"It's from the man who kept a ledger on your nosebleeds. Read it out."

I unfolded the page.

It was one sheet, covered front and back in the square capitals I had once found charming.

"Cass," I read. "I know I don't deserve this."

"I wanted to tell you that I know you better than anybody ever has."

"Oh, here we go," Hattie said.

"You take two sugars in your coffee."

I stopped and looked at the cup in front of me.

It was black, and it was the best thing I had ever tasted.

"You hate pickles," I read. "You're scared of thunderstorms, and you've always liked yellow best."

Hattie put down her fork.

"Cass, you ate a whole jar of pickles last Tuesday standing in my kitchen."

"I know," I said.

"You sit on the porch for every storm. You make me turn off the lights."

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Beta's Son Never Knew Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.