The Son Who Returned to Expose Their Shame novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: The Boathouse

Gran had the back door of the Buick open before I'd said a word.

"In," she said to Annie. "You can tell it dry."

Annie didn't argue.

I slid in beside her and Gran yelled at the air conditioning until it gave up and blew heat instead.

Annie's teeth were chattering.

I took off my grandfather's jacket and put it around her shoulders, safety pins and all.

She didn't say no to that.

Nobody talked across the bridge.

The rain was so loud on the roof it would have drowned us anyway.

At the house, Gran put a towel on Annie's head, a kettle on the stove and a bottle of bourbon on the table, in that order.

Then she sat down across from her and folded her hands.

"Now," Gran said.

Annie held the mug in both hands.

She looked at me, not at Gran.

"I went to the boathouse to get my shoes," she said. "I'd left them on the bench by the kayaks. You'd gone off down the dock with your beer, and I was going to come find you."

I didn't move.

"Bryce came in behind me. He shut the door."

Her voice was very level.

It was the voice she'd used to count off the little girls at the barre.

"He'd had a lot to drink. He said happy birthday to me, like it was my birthday. He thought that was funny. He said I was wasting myself on the wrong brother."

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