The Night I Gave My Best Friend's Brother a Child novel · Chapter 6 of 24
Chapter 6: Tea With Edith
Edith Ketterman poured tea into a cup so thin I could see my own thumb through it.
"Sugar?" she asked.
"No, thank you."
"Good. I never trusted people who take it."
We sat at the kitchen table of the old farmhouse, with the afternoon sun coming through lace curtains.
The kitchen smelled of lemon polish and woodsmoke.
On the wall behind her hung a calendar from Ketterman Freight, with a red circle on a date three weeks away.
She did not make small talk for long.
"I'll ask you once," she said. "And you may answer or not. Is that child Rhett's?"
I held the cup in both hands.
"I gave my word I wouldn't discuss it with anyone," I said. "I'm sorry. I can't answer that today."
"That is an answer."
"It isn't."
"My dear, it is the best answer I've heard in thirty years." Her mouth moved at one corner. "A liar would have said no at once."
I stared at the tea.
She reached into the pocket of her cardigan and slid a small photograph across the table.
It was a snapshot with a white border, gone soft at the corners.
A little boy of about four sat on a porch step, squinting at the camera, with a cowlick standing straight up at the crown of his head.
His eyes were pale, and the iris had a ring of gold around the pupil.
I put my hand over my mouth.
"Rhett, the summer his father put up the swing," Edith said. "I have that picture on my dresser. I have never shown it to anyone in this family but him."
"He's the same," I whispered.
"Is he?"
Keep reading free with an account. Start The Night I Gave My Best Friend's Brother a Child from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 5 · All chapters · Chapter 7 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend