39 Weeks Pregnant, My Husband Refused to Make Me 1 Bowl of Soup but Made Her 101 Breakfasts novel · Chapter 15 of 24

Chapter 15: Say It

Russ opened his mouth, and I watched him look for the way out.

He found it in the room.

Forty people were holding forks, and every one of them was watching.

"Buddy," he said, low. "I'm your mom's friend. You know that."

Eli's hand went slack in mine.

"No," Russ said. "I mean, I'm a friend of the family. I take care of you. Let's go home."

"Say it," Mr. Hendry said.

He had not raised his voice.

He slid out of the booth and stood up, and the old man's shadow fell across his son's back.

"Dad. Not here."

"Here is where he's standing. Say what you are to this boy."

"I can't."

"You can't, or you won't?"

"I've got a wedding in June!" Russ turned, and his face was red to the ears. "I've got Duluth, and the company, and you, and thirty years of you telling me what I'm supposed to be. I can't just..."

"Look at him."

Russ looked.

Eli stood very straight, with his coat zipped, and his chin was starting to shake.

"I'm sorry," Russ said, and I heard that he meant it, and I heard that it was not enough. "I'm sorry, bud. Not yet."

Eli let go of my hand.

He did not cry, which was worse.

He walked across the floor to the window booth and stood in front of the old man, and he said, in his small clear school voice, "Are you mad at me, sir?"

"No," Mr. Hendry said. His own voice broke on the word. "No, son. I'm mad at a great many people. You're not one."

He knelt, slowly, with a hand on the table to hold his weight, until their eyes were level.

"My name is Mr. Hendry, and I'm your grandfather. I'd like you to come and stay at my house for a while. There's a dog."

"What kind?"

"A bad one."

Eli thought about it.

"Okay," he said.

The old man got to his feet with the boy's hand in his.

He turned to the counter and said, loud enough to reach the back wall, "This is my grandson. I'm saying it here, so nobody in this town has to wonder."

Somebody at the counter began to clap, and then stopped, embarrassed.

Russ stood in the middle of the aisle with his hands open.

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