The Richest Woman in Town Claimed Me as Her Lost Daughter on Stage, Then I Read the Date on Her Lab Report novel · Chapter 7 of 24
Chapter 7: Lemon Pie at the Big House
Tom drove me up Fairview Hill on Saturday at ten to six.
He stopped the truck at the end of the Chalmers driveway.
"I'll be right here," he said. "If it goes bad, flash your phone light."
"Like a lighthouse."
"Like a very polite lighthouse."
I carried my mother's lemon curd in a jar, because I do not arrive anywhere empty-handed.
I walked up the long drive in the green dress, the only nice one I owned.
Ray Chalmers opened the front door before I could knock.
He stood in the doorway in a pressed shirt with the tag from the dry cleaner still on the sleeve.
"Hallie," he said. "I'm Ray. I mean, you know that. I'm Ray."
He put out his hand and then took it back and then put it out again, and I shook it.
His thumb bent back at the first joint, a long curve, and so did mine.
We both looked down at the same time.
"Huh," Ray said. His voice cracked on it. "Huh. Look at that."
"Come in, come in, you'll let the heat out," Barbara called from the dining room, and I let go of his hand.
The Chalmers dining room had a table for twelve, set for four.
There were candles and a roast, and a cut-glass bowl of something with cranberries.
On the sideboard sat a lemon pie with a crimped edge that somebody had clearly practiced.
Barbara sat at the head in a navy dress, smiling.
Lindsey sat across from me with her hands in her lap.
A manila folder lay under her chair, and I could see the corner.
"We're going to plan Christmas," Barbara said. "I've already spoken to the decorator about the east bedroom. We'll do it in blue, I think, you strike me as a blue."
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