to continue.
“I mean Manuel and Carmen’s home.”
Everyone noticed her correction. Mom watched her carefully before answering.
“Yes,” she replied. “We should.”
Back home, instead of staging a dramatic apology, Veronica gathered last night’s wineglasses and folded the sofa blankets. Then she stopped.
“I’m sorry,” she began. Mom waited in the kitchen doorway.
“For the mess?”
Veronica stared at the glasses in her hands.
“No.”
She set them on a tray.
“For acting like this was ours.”
Nobody filled the quiet for her. An apology needed space to be heard, and she kept talking.
“When Derek lost his job, I was terrified. I kept thinking we were one bill away from losing everything.”
Derek rested against the wall.
“You should have told them about the debts.”
“I know.”
“You told me not to.”
“I know that too.”
Looking at him, she sounded exhausted rather than accusatory. Then she addressed
