seventy-two, not dead.”
Mom called from outside.
“You are not working six days a week!”
Dad raised his voice.
“Four.”
“Three.”
He looked at us.
“Your mother has become unreasonable.”
We heard Mom laugh.
For the first time since I returned, the future entered the conversation.
Not the inheritance.
Not the past.
The future.
Over the next week, the house slowly became my parents’ home again.
Veronica found a small rental nearby.
It was modest, but she liked it because sunlight reached the kitchen.
Derek tried to refuse when Dad
