the party possible.
“You knew people were sleeping here.”
“I knew some family was coming.”
“How many?”
“I didn’t know twenty-two.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Ron folded his arms.
“Caleb knew enough.”
I turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
Ron smiled.
“He told me to keep everything downstairs so you could rest.”
Caleb went pale.
“Dad.”
But Ron kept going.
“He said you’d be exhausted anyway.”
Something inside me went cold.
Then Ron delivered the sentence that shattered whatever remained.
“His exact words were, ‘Once she gets home,
