“Enjoy the cake, ladies. It’s a lovely afternoon.”
Then I found the rest of my family photographs in a cardboard box and began hanging them back up.
One by one.
Exactly where they belonged.
The tapping of the hammer traveled down the hallway.
Harper didn’t confront me in front of her friends.
The shower ended soon after.
I went to my bedroom and locked the door.
Harper cleaned up her own wrapping paper, plates, cups, and cake crumbs.
By then there was no pretending we were experiencing normal mother-in-law and
