“Are you sorry you criticized my clothes?”
“Yes.”
“The food I brought?”
“Yes.”
“The gifts?”
“Yes.”
“Keeping Olivia away?”
“Yes.”
“Making Mauricio feel dirty in your home?”
“Yes.”
“Making my son call and tell me I wasn’t welcome Christmas Eve?”
“Yes.”
I held her gaze.
“Or are you sorry because the woman you looked down on turned out to own a house you admire?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
“I don’t know.”
I nodded.
“At least that is honest.”
Hugo stood.
“Tell us what to do.”
“I’m not giving you a checklist.”
“Then how do we fix this?”
“You don’t fix years in an afternoon.”
“What do you want?”
“Respect.”
“You have it.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I want respect that exists when you think I have nothing.”
I looked at Carla.
“Respect for Mauricio when he has grease on his hands.”
At Hugo.
“Respect for Olivia when her life doesn’t match yours.”
Then Carla again.
“Respect for the older woman in a clearance dress because she is a human being, not because she could buy your house.”
Silence.
“How can I prove it?”
“Time.”
He nodded.
“And choices nobody forces you to make.”
“Gabriel wants to see you.”
“He is always welcome.”
Relief crossed Hugo’s face.
“But you will not use him to pressure me.”
“I won’t.”
“You will not tell him I abandoned him.”
“I already corrected that.”
“Good.”
“I can bring him tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Carla looked up.
“Can I come?”
“No.”
Her face tightened.
