The Beast on Her Leash novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Plan Is a Microphone
Lyle left at three with his letter unsigned and his smile still on.
Pauline followed him out, and at the door she looked back at me once.
She said nothing, and the screen door shut behind her.
Fern sat at the head of the table with the gravy boat in front of her and her hand on her cane.
"Somebody tell me what that was," she said.
Bram stayed on his feet.
"I'll do it," he said. "Sit, Willa. It's mine to say."
He told her in six minutes.
He did not leave out the cab, or the phone, or what Lyle said in the garage.
I watched the old woman's face while he talked, and it did something I will not forget.
It went smaller, and then it went hard.
"Eleven years," she said when he stopped. "In my own house. You ate my meatloaf and you carried that."
"I thought you'd lose the house."
"Child, I'd have lost the house in a minute for you."
She reached up, and he bent down, and she held his huge face between her small, spotted hands.
"You called," she said. "You were the one who called. Do you hear me?"
He nodded, and tears ran into his beard.
She let go and turned to me, and her eyes were dry and blue and cold as a creek in January.
"Your parents. I'm sorry, honey. I raised that man, and I'm sorry."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Beast on Her Leash are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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