My pregnant daughter-in-law told my son she needed “peace and quiet” and that I had to move out of the four-bedroom house my late husband and I had paid off years ago.

replaced the roof twice, redone the kitchen ourselves when money was tight, and celebrated more birthdays at that dining room table than I could count.

My husband had been gone for several years by then, but there were still mornings when I half expected to hear him coming down the hallway.

I took a sip of coffee, entered the living room, and looked at Harper.

“Honey,” I said, “this is my house.”

Her expression froze.

David, my thirty-two-year-old son, found something fascinating about the carpet.

That was David.

He had