“Your wife threatened me today over the air conditioner.”
Susan remained seated at the dining table.
“I didn’t threaten anyone.”
Margaret waved a hand dramatically.
“You told me I have no right to touch anything in this house.”
“I told you that you don’t have the right to shut off the cooling in my workspace because you don’t approve of me using it.”
Richard loosened his tie.
“Can everybody please calm down?”
Susan nearly laughed.
That sentence had become Richard’s favorite response whenever conflict involved his mother.
It allowed him to sound reasonable without confronting the person who had caused the problem.
Susan closed her laptop.
“I am calm.”
Margaret scoffed.
“You didn’t sound calm earlier when you started calling this your house, as though my son doesn’t have any claim to it.”
Susan reached for her tablet.
She had prepared for this.
The county property record was already open.
