really need much.”
Mom smiled politely.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
But I noticed what she did next.
She folded the card quickly and slid it beneath her plate.
Something about that small movement bothered me.
Not because twenty dollars wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t about the amount.
It was about everything Mom had done for Melissa over the years.
Mom had babysat Melissa’s children without ever accepting payment.
She had cooked dinners when Melissa worked late.
She had helped whenever the family needed something.
And years earlier, when Melissa and her husband
