charge now.”
“You heard that, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
She briefly covered her face with her hands.
“I was talking to my sister.”
“I assumed that.”
“I was angry.”
“At my parents?” GetParenting Tips
“At everybody.”
She looked out toward the plants.
“My mother spent years caring for my grandmother. Nobody helped her. Then after Grandma died, everyone criticized every decision she had made.”
Her fingers worried a loose thread on her sleeve.
“I think I became obsessed with preventing that. I thought being in charge meant nobody could blame me.”
“And instead?”
“I became somebody people were afraid to disagree with.”
Her voice didn’t shake.
“I don’t like that person.”
“Then don’t keep being her.”
She watched me for an answer.
“That simple?”
“No.”
I gave her a small smile.
“But the sentence is simple.”
After Bellweather’s final payment arrived Monday, Derek repaid all household funds. Then he laid every
