Chapter 23: House Rules, Revised

Zelda's POV

I woke up on my mother's pillow, in the cabin, with Bernard's arm across my waist and David's boots by the bed.

It was Saturday, a week after the wedding that wasn't.

Snow had come and gone, and the lake lay flat and bright outside the window.

I could hear Ellis in the kitchen, arguing with the kettle.

"It's the wrong tea," he called. "She's got three kinds."

"Chamomile and lavender," David said. "The loose one."

"Which one is the loose one?"

"The one in the jar."

"They're all in jars."

I lay there smiling at the ceiling.

Nobody had carried me anywhere.

I had walked into this room on my own, awake, with my own bag, and every one of them had stood back to let me choose the bed.

I chose the big one.

They had all fit.

The kitchen, when I came out, smelled of coffee and pine smoke.

Garson was fixing the porch step with a hammer.

Bernard was making pancakes shaped like states.

"That's Ohio," he said, pointing his spatula.

"It's a rectangle."

"It's a hopeful rectangle."

David sat at the head of the table with the folder in front of him.

He had not touched it since Saturday.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning."

I sat across from him.

At the middle of the table sat the cereal bowl from the first morning, the same chipped blue one, empty.

"You kept it," I said.

"It seemed important."

I took my engagement ring out of the pocket of my cardigan.

I had carried it around for a week.

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