“Your decision has created a chain reaction,” she said. “The mortgage is in default danger. Toby can’t cover his rent. My parents were counting on us to help with assisted living next year. Curtis is between jobs. We all rely on each other, Edith. That’s what families do.”
I looked at Garrett.
“Did you know she was going to make this speech in my house?”
He rubbed a hand over his mouth.
“Mom, can we just hear everybody out?”
I turned back to Marissa.
“You brought witnesses so I would feel ashamed.”
“I brought perspective.”
“No. You brought pressure.”
She sighed, as though I were difficult.
“Fine. Let’s set aside intentions. The point is that you are punishing an entire family over one thoughtless text.”
Rebecca spoke then for the first time.
“It wasn’t one text.”
Everyone looked at her.
Marissa’s voice cooled immediately.
“Rebecca.”
“No,” Rebecca said, and I saw my own stubbornness in her then, clean and bright. “It wasn’t one text. It was years.”
Toby shifted in his chair.
Marissa gave her daughter a warning look, then turned back to me.
“What exactly do you want from us, Edith? A formal apology? A weekly schedule? Gratitude on command?”
I almost laughed at the insult hidden inside the phrasing.