Life after Goodbye novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Water Glass

My father's house sat on a quiet street above the lake, with a maple in the front yard that my mother had planted.

I rang the bell on Saturday morning, when I knew Ansel was at the warehouse.

My father opened the door in his reading glasses and a cardigan with a loose button.

"Calla," he said. "Where's Kendrick?"

"At home. I wanted to see you alone."

He stepped back, and I came in.

The hall smelled the way it always had, of floor wax and old books.

We sat in the kitchen, and he made tea with his hands shaking a little, and I stopped him and made it myself.

"You've been away from the Friday table," he said.

"I have."

"Ansel says you and Kendrick are having trouble."

"Ansel says a lot of things."

My father almost smiled.

He took the glass of water I put in front of him and drank half of it, and I did not look at it.

"Dad, I want to ask you about Chelsea."

His face closed a little.

"She's a good girl."

"I know you think so. When she first came, did you read the lab letter yourself?"

"Ansel read it to me."

"Did you see it?"

"I don't read the small print anymore." He rubbed his eyes. "Ansel showed me where it said the result. He had the whole thing in a folder."

"And you never asked to hold it?"

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