“I did.”
“You said you were helping with the house.”
“I was.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were helping yourself.”
Beatrice’s eyes narrowed.
“You should be careful how you speak to me.”
That almost made me laugh.
For years, that sentence worked.
Be careful.
Show respect.
Don’t embarrass Adrian.
Don’t upset his mother.
Don’t make a scene.
Keeping peace had become another phrase for letting Beatrice take one step farther into my life every month.
I had finally run out of steps to give her.
I picked up
