Then: “What?”
“I moved out Friday.”
“Moved where?”
“A temporary apartment.”
“You moved out while we were away?”
“Yes.”
“Mom, you can’t just—”
He stopped himself.
I waited.
When he spoke again, his voice was quieter.
“What did you take?”
“Things that belong to me.”
“What does that mean?”
“The blue sofa. My bedroom furniture. The sideboard. My dishes. Some other things.”
“The coffee maker?”
Despite myself, I smiled.
“Yes.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“It was mine.”
“You gave it to Rebecca.”
“I bought it for the household.”
“That’s basically the same thing.”
“No, Daniel. That sentence explains more than you realize.”
He exhaled.
“Can we talk when we get home?”
“Yes.”
“Will you come back to the house?”
“To talk. Yes.”
“To live.”
“I don’t know.”
That frightened him.
I could hear it.
And I understood why.
My leaving did not simply create an emotional problem.
It created practical ones.
Who would pick up Jack on Tuesdays?
Who would stay with Emily when school closed?
Who would cook three nights a week?
Who would buy groceries when Rebecca forgot?
Who would sit with the children so Daniel and Rebecca could go to dinner?
I wondered whether he was thinking about losing his mother or losing the life his mother had made easier.
Perhaps both.
That was the hardest possibility of all.
People were rarely only one thing.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“There’s something we need to talk about when I get home.”
“What?”
“The house.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What about it?”
“Just… the money you gave us when we bought it.”
“What about the money?”
He hesitated.
“Rebecca and I don’t remember it the same way you do.”
My stomach turned cold.
“How do you think I remember it?”
“As a loan.”
“It was a loan.”
Daniel was quiet.
“Rebecca thought it was a gift.”
I closed my eyes.
