Instead, she looked over my shoulder into the house.
“You look awful,” she said. “Anyway, we need forty thousand dollars.”
I had believed grief had left me completely empty.
I was mistaken.
Something colder had begun forming in the space where my patience used to live.
“What do you need it for?”
Julian finally looked up.
“It’s an emergency. Don’t turn it into one of your dramatic situations.”
My father stepped forward.
“Your brother’s restaurant has a serious tax problem. Family supports family.”
My eyes moved toward the black mourning dress hanging across a chair.
Chloe’s small pink backpack still rested beside the staircase.
“You missed their funeral,” I whispered.
My mother’s expression hardened.
“After everything we’ve done for you, you owe us!”
I looked at each of them.
Then I reached toward the thick blue folder resting on the hall table.
For the first time in my life, they had come to my home expecting the obedient daughter they had always controlled.
