Betrayed: She Took My Son novel · Chapter 24 of 24

Chapter 24: One Year

On the seventh of September, the cul-de-sac came to Kentucky.

The minivan woman drove first, with three other cars behind her.

She climbed out of the driver's seat with a casserole in both hands.

"We were told there'd be a cake," she said.

"There's always a cake," said Dot.

The man with the lawn mower brought folding chairs.

The women from the dental office brought a banner they had made themselves.

They hung it between two fence posts.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, LIAM.

Dot's husband stood under it with his arms folded, watching the whole yard fill up with strangers.

He had a plate in his hand. He had not eaten anything on it.

"Everyone's here," Dot told him. "Say something nice."

He considered the crowd.

"Good turnout," he said.

A woman by the gate dropped her fork.

"That's two sentences this year," Dot said, deeply satisfied. "Eat your ham."

I was carrying the cake out of the kitchen when I stopped on the porch steps.

It was blue, and it came from the same bakery that had made the shower cake a year ago.

The baker had driven it down himself in a refrigerated van.

He had refused to take any money.

Liam's name was piped across the top in yellow, and every letter was spelled right.

I set it on the picnic table and had to stand there with my hand over my mouth.

"Hey," Clayton said, behind me.

He had flour on his sleeve from something Dot had made him help with.

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