her voice climbing. “You’re going to stand here and abandon your own mother?”
Abandon.
The woman who had watched my messages go unanswered was accusing me of abandoning her on my own porch.
Belle joined in.
Talking quickly about how unfair I was being.
How I was punishing her baby for adult problems.
How I had exposed private family business in a book to humiliate them.
The two women grew louder.
Talking over each other.
I stayed where I was.
Calm.
Listening.
Mark said nothing.
Mark always says nothing.
And
