Something changed in her face.
“It’s hurting my property, Audrey. I’ve asked you more than once.”
Her mouth tightened.
Something changed in her face. “You just love telling people what they can and can’t do, don’t you?”
The words caught me off guard.
“Everything has to be exactly the way you say.”
“I’m telling people not to park on property that doesn’t belong to them.”
“Rules, boundaries, permission.” She gave a short laugh. “Everything has to be exactly the way you say.”
I stared at her. For someone I had known only a few months, she sounded strangely angry with me.
“All I’m asking for is basic respect.”
Audrey looked me up and down.
I stared at her.
Then she smiled. “What are you going to do, grandma?”
For some reason, the sentence struck me harder than the insult itself. The rhythm of it felt familiar.
I stood there trying
