For a long moment, Brooke didn\u2019t move. The coffee urn hissed behind me. Noah tugged at my sleeve, and somewhere a nurse laughed at Mr. Brennan\u2019s joke. Kyle stood beside his wife with his hands jammed in his pockets, looking at the floor the way he used to when he was ten and had broken something.<\/p>\n
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Then Brooke\u2019s chin began to shake. She didn\u2019t take the apron. Instead, she reached into her coat pocket, pulled out a folded envelope, and laid it on the counter beside the gravy. The bank\u2019s logo was printed in the corner. Kyle\u2019s head snapped up. \u201cBrooke, don\u2019t,\u201d he said quietly. But she was already looking straight at me, tears spilling over. \u201cThose weren\u2019t rules, Bev,\u201d she whispered. \u201cThey were the only Christmas we could afford.\u201d<\/p>\n
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