Chapter 6: Supper

She wrote the word beside the time. Beneath it she added Nora Bell. There was room for a note about work, but she closed the book before making one.

“Should I bring anything?”

“You could bring bread.”

The answer came without a protest or a promise that everything was already provided. Ada Mercer looked up.

“I can do that.”

Eli Finch pulled his sleeve back to check his phone, then put it away.

“We should let you get home,” she said to him.

At the door, Nora Bell held the storm door while they stepped out. She did not ask them to listen once more before they left. Ada Mercer thanked her again for keeping the tool, and this time the thanks did not have to cover anything else.

On the pavement, the boy walked beside her with his hands in his pockets.

“Do you want to go together on Saturday?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She nodded. They continued toward the bus stop. After a little while he began telling her about the paper he had to finish. She missed the beginning and asked him to start again. He did, taking his hand from his pocket to describe the size of something on the page.

At home she put the mute away. It fitted into the empty pocket with the familiar slight resistance. She left the appointment book on the kitchen table, open to Saturday, and hung up her coat.

When Saturday came, she checked the time more often than she needed to. She put the book in her handbag, took it out, and put it back. Before leaving, she looked at the tool bag. The fastening was closed. She did not touch it.

She and Eli Finch stopped for bread on the way. She carried the loaf herself, its paper bag warm against her forearm. At the house, he rang because both her hands were occupied, one with the bread and one with the gate latch that would not settle.

Nora Bell took their coats in the hall.

At the dining table, Ada Mercer started toward the chair with its back to the kitchen, then stopped. From there she would have to turn whenever their hostess spoke while carrying something in.

“Could I sit on this side?”

“Of course.”

She moved the napkin and sat where she could see the doorway and the boy’s face. Eli Finch took the chair opposite her. He set his phone facedown beside his plate, thought better of it, and put it in his pocket.