PART 3 Her face reddened. “You make it sound as though we have been exploiting you.” I could have listed everything. The early mornings. The late dinners. The school pickups. The laundry. The deliveries. The errands that always seemed to become emergencies the moment I said I wanted an afternoon to myself. I could have…

PART 3 She repeated the word so quietly that I almost wished she had shouted it. “You think this is a game, David?” “No. That’s not what I meant.” “Then what did you mean?” I rubbed my face with both hands. I wanted her to yell. I wanted her to throw the folder at me,…

PART 3 At first, I genuinely thought he was joking. “I’m sorry?” Walter chuckled and tapped the folder with one finger. “The bill. Your retirement money. You have twenty-one thousand dollars sitting around doing nothing, and we have a birthday dinner to pay for.” The conversations around us began to fade. Rachel, who had been…

PART 3 Her face reddened. “You make it sound as though we have been exploiting you.” I could have listed everything. The early mornings. The late dinners. The school pickups. The laundry. The deliveries. The errands that always seemed to become emergencies the moment I said I wanted an afternoon to myself. I could have…

PART 3 She repeated the word so quietly that I almost wished she had shouted it. “You think this is a game, David?” “No. That’s not what I meant.” “Then what did you mean?” I rubbed my face with both hands. I wanted her to yell. I wanted her to throw the folder at me,…

PART 3 At first, I genuinely thought he was joking. “I’m sorry?” Walter chuckled and tapped the folder with one finger. “The bill. Your retirement money. You have twenty-one thousand dollars sitting around doing nothing, and we have a birthday dinner to pay for.” The conversations around us began to fade. Rachel, who had been…