Chapter 24: The Napkin

Lena's POV

I handed the baby back to the nurse and ran.

Ty drove with one hand and called Bernadette with the other, and it rang out every time.

Shelby had said the school's front desk saw Bernadette's silver sedan turn toward the lake.

"She's going to her house," Ty said.

"Or somewhere worse," I said.

Pete caught up with us at the Bratenahl gate in his pickup, with Shelby white-faced in the passenger seat.

The gate stood open.

Bernadette's silver sedan sat on the gravel with its trunk wide.

Inside were two suitcases and a child's booster seat.

"She's taking him to Florida," Shelby said. Her voice broke on the second word. "Her sister's. She said so last Christmas."

We ran across the lawn.

The sunroom doors were open.

Bernadette sat at a glass table in a pale cardigan with a plate of shortbread in front of her.

Eli sat in the chair across from her with his legs swinging, holding a cookie in both hands.

Gary the stegosaurus sat beside his plate.

"Mommy!" Eli shouted when he saw Shelby, and he started to slide off the chair.

"Stay there, sweetheart," Bernadette said, very softly.

He stopped.

"Bernadette," I said.

"Lena. How lovely you could come." She lifted her teacup. "I thought we might all have tea."

"Give me my son."

"He's having a snack. He was hungry."

Shelby ran across the room and swept Eli out of the chair, and he wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Grandma said we're going on a plane," he said into her hair.

"I know, baby."

"She said you wouldn't mind."

Shelby looked at Bernadette over his shoulder, and I had never seen that look on her face.

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