when adults are pretending.”
She whispered, “I thought I was protecting you.”
There it was again.
Protecting.
Dad and I exchanged a look.
Apparently it was a family disease.
For the next hour, nobody raised their voice.
They didn’t need to.
Rowan told his mother that being her son could no longer mean becoming responsible for every crisis.
Selina listened.
Sometimes defensively.
Sometimes badly.
But she listened.
Then she surprised me.
“I’m sorry about the hospital.”
The room quieted.
She looked directly at me.
“I was frightened about the bank
