“Are you out of your damn mind?” Edmund chuckled, “You think you deserve a cruise? Look at you. You look like a damn bamboo stick. One gust and you're gone. You think the captain’s gonna see you and roll out a red carpet? No, Doris. He’s gonna think you’re hauling walking bacteria on board.”
"But today is—"
"Today's what?" He finally looked at me. His face was older, heavier now. “You’re not young anymore. The world’s not kind to women like you out there. You're not like Elizabeth.”
There it was. The name that always hovered between us.
Elizabeth. My sister-in-law. His brother’s widow. Slim, blonde, always dressed like she stepped out of a fashion magazine. She judged me with her eyes every time we were in the same room. Edmund never corrected her.
“She’s younger,” he continued, “travels for business. Makes appearances for the family. She’s part of the image. But you—you’ve always been the one behind the scenes. That’s where you shine. The house. The family. You keep things running.”
Behind me, the twins were laughing. My grandson.
“Yeah, Ma, you look like a skeleton in a funeral dress,” said Lyle, smirking.
“Smells like old mop water and cat piss,” Nash added, pinching his nose.