She laughed once under her breath.
“You’re being incredibly selfish.”
That word did not hurt the way it once would have.
At seventy-seven, I had finally learned the truth of something women my age often learn too late: the people who live off your sacrifice will call you selfish the first time you rest.
“I am being expensive,” I said. “There’s a difference. You simply no longer care for the price.”
Rebecca looked down to hide a smile.
Marissa saw it and turned sharp.
“This isn’t funny.”
“No,” Rebecca said. “It isn’t.”
Toby spoke suddenly, his voice smaller than usual.
“Grandma… if I really try to do better, does that matter? Or is this all just over?”
I turned toward him, and because he was the only one in the room asking something human instead of strategic, I answered gently.
“It matters,” I said. “Any real change matters. My door is not closed to honesty. It is closed to entitlement.”
He nodded slowly.
Garrett finally stood.
“What do you want me to do?”
It was the same question he had asked before, but something in it had changed. Less outrage. More exhaustion.