“You’re Watching the Kids. Say No—and Get Out,” My Daughter-in-Law Said. I Smiled—and Left. — Transcript

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1. 0:00I spent 34 years dispatching transport
2. 0:02trucks out of a Stone Foods depot. So
3. 0:04when entitlement landed on my kitchen
4. 0:06table, I knew it on site. My
5. 0:08daughter-in-law had booked the flights,
6. 0:10packed the suitcases, and lined up the
7. 0:12child care. The child care was me. She
8. 0:14just hadn't asked, and she had forgotten
9. 0:16one small thing. I still had a choice.
10. 0:19It was a wet Tuesday in late October,
11. 0:21the kind of rain Kitchener gets when the
12. 0:23leaves have come down, and nobody has
13. 0:25rad yet. I was in the kitchen of the
14. 0:27house on Brookfield Crescent.
15. 0:29drying the same mug for the third time
16. 0:31and listening to the furnace tick. I had
17. 0:33lived in the basement suite for 2 years,
18. 0:35ever since Phil died. Phil Hart taught
19. 0:38high school shop for 38 years and could
20. 0:41tell you from the sound of a drawer
21. 0:42whether the man who built it had been in
22. 0:44a hurry. Greg came down the stairs
23. 0:46first, tie hanging loose, smelling of
24. 0:49the cold coffee and drafting paper that
25. 0:51follow him home from Carol Engineering.
26. 0:53My son is 41 and still takes the stairs,
27. 0:55too, at a time when he's nervous. Holly
28. 0:58was right behind him. She manages
29. 0:59billing operations for Foster Medical
30. 1:01and she walks like someone with a
31. 1:03standing meeting. She did not sit. She
32. 1:06took a glossy folder out of her work bag
33. 1:08and slid it across the table until it
34. 1:09stopped against my mug. On the cover was
35. 1:12a beach so blue it looked wet.
36. 1:13All-inclusive Riviera Maya 9 days. We're
37. 1:17going, Holly said. You're watching Ava
38. 1:19and Jack. If you say no, you can get
39. 1:20out. She said it in the voice she uses
40. 1:23for invoices. Greg looked at the floor
41. 1:25tiles. I looked at the brochure and then
42. 1:27at her and I smiled. It was a small
43. 1:29smile, the kind you'd give a stranger
44. 1:31who just told you the wrong time. Then I
45. 1:33put my mug in the sink and went
46. 1:35downstairs without a word. I'll tell you
47. 1:37what I did after that, but you need to
48. 1:39understand first that I didn't walk out
49. 1:41because of one sentence. Nobody does. A
50. 1:44sentence like that is only the last
51. 1:45thing in the pile. The pile started
52. 1:48small. In March, Holly needed a Friday
53. 1:50to Monday for a conference in Montreal,
54. 1:52and I canled my Saturday pottery class
55. 1:54at the community center to be home. In
56. 1:57June, it was their anniversary weekend
57. 1:58in Prince Edward County. I got Jack's
58. 2:00ear infection, a fridge that had nothing
59. 2:03in it, and a laundry basket the size of
60. 2:05a canoe. Greg thanked me both times
61. 2:07sincerely, and then went upstairs and
62. 2:09shut the door of his home office. I
63. 2:11understood that to be his way of keeping
64. 2:12the piece. I also understood that the
65. 2:14piece was being paid for out of my
66. 2:16account. Holly never said thank you. She
67. 2:19said perfect or great. That works the
68. 2:21way you'd say it to a courier. And every
69. 2:23few weeks there was a remark light,
70. 2:25almost a joke. Darlene's retired. What
71. 2:27else is she doing? Or I'd come up with a
72. 2:29casserole and she'd say, "Oh, you don't
73. 2:31have to keep busy on our account." As if
74. 2:33I were a house plant that kept sending
75. 2:35out shoots. I should say something about
76. 2:38how I came to be in that basement
77. 2:39because people always assumed the old
78. 2:41woman moved in with nothing. That's not
79. 2:43what happened. When Phil died, the house
80. 2:45we'd had for 39 years in G was far too
81. 2:48big. And Greg said, "Mom, come to us.
82. 2:50We'll make a proper suite. So, I sold
83. 2:52the house. I put $85,000 of that money
84. 2:55into the renovation. The second
85. 2:57bathroom, the egress window, the little
86. 2:59kitchenet, the new furnace. I did not
87. 3:01put it in as a gift. My brother-in-law's
88. 3:04wife is a real estate lawyer, and she
89. 3:06sat all of us down at her office on
90. 3:08Victoria Street. Greg signed a loan
91. 3:10agreement and a second mortgage was
92. 3:11registered on the title with a repayment
93. 3:13clause. Holly signed two to be fair to
94. 3:16her. She read every page with a pencil
95. 3:18in her hand. Greg said, laughing a bit,
96. 3:20that I was being a stickler. I said I
97. 3:22was a dispatcher and I like to know
98. 3:24where the load is going. I had forgotten
99. 3:26that folder was in my filing cabinet. I
100. 3:28think I wanted to forget it. You don't
101. 3:30think of a loan to your own son as a
102. 3:32document. You think of it as love with a
103. 3:34seal on it. I went downstairs that
104. 3:36Tuesday and sat in Phil's rocker. I'd
105. 3:38refinished it myself with a hand plane
106. 3:40and three coats of tongue oil, and it
107. 3:42doesn't wobble. I did not cry. I made a
108. 3:45pot of chamomile and listened to the
109. 3:46floor above me. Holly's voice cut
110. 3:48through the joists like a table saw, and
111. 3:50Gregs came back soft and low, the voice
112. 3:53of a man who'd stopped arguing a long
113. 3:54time ago. The next morning, I did not
114. 3:57make the oatmeal. For 2 years, there had
115. 4:00been a pot of steel cut oats on the
116. 4:01stove by 6:30 and sliced apples on a
117. 4:04saucer because Greg skips breakfast
118. 4:06otherwise and gets headaches by 10. I
119. 4:08hadn't thought about it. It was just a
120. 4:10thing my hands did. That Wednesday, the
121. 4:12pot stayed upside down on the rack. I
122. 4:15came up the stairs at 7:30 in my
123. 4:17gardening boots and my old canvas vest
124. 4:19with my secrets in the leather loop on
125. 4:21my hip. Greg was standing at the open
126. 4:23fridge in his work socks looking for the
127. 4:25frittata that wasn't there. Holly was
128. 4:27pouring coffee into a travel mug and
129. 4:29thumbming her phone. "Your mother must
130. 4:31have slept in," Greg said. "Not to me,
131. 4:33exactly." "Well, get her moving," Holly
132. 4:36said. "The packing list for the kids is
133. 4:38on the island. Remind her Jack's allergy
134. 4:40pill is at 8 sharp and Ava can't have
135. 4:42dairy. Not even a little. And did she
136. 4:44leave my blue blazer in the dryer?"
137. 4:46"Good morning, Greg," I said. "I'm off
138. 4:49to the community garden behind the
139. 4:50Anglican church. We've had a frost
140. 4:52warning, and I need to pull the tomato
141. 4:54cages before the ground goes hard."
142. 4:56Holly froze with the mug an inch from
143. 4:58her mouth. She turned slowly. Our flight
144. 5:00is Thursday morning. We talked about
145. 5:02this. You told me about it, I said. I
146. 5:05don't remember agreeing to anything. I
147. 5:08picked up my gloves from the back door
148. 5:09hook and said, "Have a productive day,
149. 5:11you two." And went out into the rain.
150. 5:14The aotment smelled the way it does in
151. 5:16late autumn of wet leaf mold and the
152. 5:18dark soil underneath it. I knelt on a
153. 5:20foam pad and worked at a bindweed route
154. 5:22that had been there since July. I have
155. 5:24always thought better with my hands
156. 5:25busy. Around 10:00, my phone buzzed in
157. 5:28my vest. Greg, mom, what's going on?
158. 5:31Holly's really stressed about the trip.
159. 5:33Can you please just help her out with
160. 5:34the kids today? It's only a week. It was
161. 5:379 days. The brochure said so, and Holly
162. 5:40knew it. I wiped soil from my forehead
163. 5:42with the back of my glove and typed with
164. 5:44one finger the way Phil's grandchildren
165. 5:45teased me about. I'm busy with my garden
166. 5:48today. You have until tomorrow morning
167. 5:51to make other arrangements for your
168. 5:52family. I sent it before I could soften
169. 5:55it. A gust came through the maples and
170. 5:57dropped a shower of yellow leaves on my
171. 5:58shoulders. And I thought, "There, that's
172. 6:01the first joint cut." I wasn't angry,
173. 6:03and I want you to believe me about that.
174. 6:06What I felt was closer to the feeling
175. 6:08you get on the first morning of a diet
176. 6:09when you realize you aren't hungry at
177. 6:11all. That afternoon, the house was
178. 6:13empty. A note on the island said Holly
179. 6:16had found a teenager from down the
180. 6:17street to pick the kids up from school,
181. 6:20which told me she could solve the
182. 6:21problem when she had to. I went down to
183. 6:23my suite. The walls are terracotta
184. 6:25because I told Greg during the
185. 6:27renovation that I'd paint them myself or
186. 6:29move out, and the shelves are crammed
187. 6:31with paperbacks and field guides and the
188. 6:33odd bird book. On the desk, there's a
189. 6:36photograph of Phil grinning beside his
190. 6:37lathe with sawdust in his eyebrows. I
191. 6:40opened the bottom drawer and took out a
192. 6:41Manila folder I'd labeled options Lake
193. 6:44Erie. Inside were brochures for three
194. 6:46small retirement co-op developments
195. 6:48along the north shore of the lake, all
196. 6:50under a 2-hour drive. One was in Port
197. 6:52Stanley. Cottages, not apartments, a
198. 6:54shared woodworking shop, a community
199. 6:56garden, a path down to the beach. I'd
200. 6:59been looking at that brochure for 4
201. 7:00months and telling myself I was just
202. 7:02curious. I'll admit one more thing.
203. 7:05Under it was the folder from Victoria
204. 7:07Street with the loan agreement, the
205. 7:09repayment schedule, and the clause that
206. 7:10I had once thought of as paperwork. I
207. 7:12read that page again. Then I read it a
208. 7:15third time. Here is what it said in
209. 7:17plain language. The $85,000 was
210. 7:20repayable in full without penalty to me
211. 7:22within 60 days of my giving written
212. 7:24notice if I permanently ceased to reside
213. 7:26at the property. Until then, there was
214. 7:29no interest and no payments, which was
215. 7:30the only reason Greg and Holly could
216. 7:33afford their lovely renovated house in
217. 7:35the first place. I closed the folder. At
218. 7:384:00, Greg texted to ask if I was
219. 7:40joining them for dinner. I wrote back,
220. 7:41"No, eat well." I ate soup in my rocker,
221. 7:43and I felt lighter than I had in months.
222. 7:46By late afternoon, the whole house felt
223. 7:48like it was holding its breath. Holly
224. 7:50was slamming cupboards upstairs and
225. 7:51saying the word babysitter in a tone
226. 7:53that made it sound like a swear. Greg
227. 7:56came down once, stood in the doorway of
228. 7:58my suite with his hands in his pockets,
229. 8:00and looked about 12 years old. "Mom, can
230. 8:03we talk about this after the trip?" "No,
231. 8:05Greg," I said kindly. "We can't." He
232. 8:08stood there a moment longer, then went
233. 8:10back up. At 5:00, I phoned Port Stanley.
234. 8:13A woman named Sarah answered warm and
235. 8:15quick, and told me cottage 14 had come
236. 8:17free in September, and that the painters
237. 8:19had finished the week before. She said
238. 8:22my deposit from my own savings, which I
239. 8:24put down in the summer in case, was
240. 8:25still held in my name. I hadn't realized
241. 8:27I had been planning anything until I
242. 8:29heard how little I had left to do. We'd
243. 8:32love to have you in the woodworking
244. 8:33guild, Mrs. Hart. Sarah said, "We just
245. 8:36installed a new band saw." Phil would
246. 8:38have been so jealous, I said. I booked a
247. 8:41mover for Thursday afternoon, a small
248. 8:43company out of Cambridge with a van that
249. 8:45holds one rocker, a desk, and a lot of
250. 8:46books. Then I phoned my sister-in-law,
251. 8:49the lawyer on Victoria Street. 14
252. 8:51minutes all told. She said, "Darlene,
253. 8:54are you sure?" And I said, "I've never
254. 8:56been sure of anything but your pie." She
255. 8:59said she'd have the notice drafted and
256. 9:00delivered by Courier first thing
257. 9:02Thursday to the house and to Greg's
258. 9:04office both, and that I should sign the
259. 9:05copy she'd emailed me that night. I did
260. 9:08my own packing on Wednesday evening, and
261. 9:10I did it properly. I folded the wool
262. 9:12sweaters and wrapped the mugs in
263. 9:13newspaper. I put Phil's photograph on
264. 9:16top of the last box. I wasn't hiding it
265. 9:18from them out of fear. I was dismantling
266. 9:20a workbench to take it to a better shop.
267. 9:22By supper time, four cardboard boxes sat
268. 9:24by the basement door labeled in black
269. 9:27marker, and the room already sounded
270. 9:29different when I walked across it.
271. 9:31Upstairs, Holly was zipping her hard
272. 9:33shell luggage and giving Greg
273. 9:35instructions about the shuttle to
274. 9:36Pearson. She'd found an agency who
275. 9:38wanted $140 a night to watch the
276. 9:41children, but the first two had
277. 9:43cancelled and she was getting frantic. I
278. 9:45heard my mother-in-law owes us this, and
279. 9:47she lives here, doesn't she? Through the
280. 9:49ceiling. That was the last time I heard
281. 9:51her say it. Before I went to bed, I
282. 9:54wrote a note on a piece of heavy card
283. 9:55stock, typed and printed so nobody could
284. 9:57misread my handwriting. Greg is a man
285. 10:00who needs things in clear font. I
286. 10:02carried it up to the kitchen island and
287. 10:04weighted it with Phil's brass paper
288. 10:05weight. turned a mug upside down beside
289. 10:07it and left the keys to the suite lined
290. 10:09up on the desk each one beside its
291. 10:12little paper tag. Thursday began before
292. 10:14dawn, still the deep blue of a bruise.
293. 10:17Their alarm went off at 4. I was already
294. 10:19awake, sitting on the edge of my bed
295. 10:21with my coat on, listening to them
296. 10:23thunder around the bedroom. At 20 to 5,
297. 10:25I heard Holly's heels on the stairs and
298. 10:27the rattle of her wheeled suitcase
299. 10:29behind her. I did what I have never done
300. 10:31in 2 years of living in that house. I
301. 10:33stayed where I was. Holly pushed open
302. 10:36the kitchen door, expecting, I suppose,
303. 10:38a final casserole or a passive
304. 10:39aggressive note, or a dossial woman in a
305. 10:42house coat. What she found was a dark
306. 10:43kitchen, a cold stove, and an upturned
307. 10:46mug. Greg, she called. Where is she? Did
308. 10:49she sleep through her alarm again? The
309. 10:52shuttle's in 20 minutes, and we still
310. 10:53need her to sign the authorization form
311. 10:55for the neighbor. Greg came down in his
312. 10:57stocking feet and flipped on the
313. 10:58overhead light. On the island, two
314. 11:01things. A folded sheet of card stock
315. 11:03under a brass paper weight and a mug
316. 11:05turned upside down. I could hear
317. 11:07everything from the bottom of the
318. 11:08stairs. I had left my door open on
319. 11:10purpose, just a crack. What is this?
320. 11:13Holly said. She read the first three
321. 11:15lines out loud in a mocking voice and
322. 11:17then she stopped. Your mother typed me a
323. 11:19note. Is this a guilt trip because she
324. 11:21doesn't want to babysit 9 days? This is
325. 11:23so dramatic, Greg. Go get her. We have a
326. 11:25flight. He took it from her. I know what
327. 11:28it said because I wrote it. It was a
328. 11:30short letter. It said that I loved my
329. 11:32grandchildren more than I could put into
330. 11:34words. It said that I had been glad to
331. 11:36help for 2 years and that I had never
332. 11:38once been asked. It said I'd heard the
333. 11:40words get out and that I had decided to
334. 11:42take them at their word. It said that a
335. 11:45courier would be delivering a legal
336. 11:46notice that morning regarding the loan
337. 11:48and that Greg should read it with a
338. 11:50coffee in his hand and not a suitcase.
339. 11:52It said that I was well and safe, that I
340. 11:55had my own car and my own money and a
341. 11:56place to go, and that I'd call him on
342. 11:58Sunday when everyone had slept. I
343. 12:01watched his face from the dark of the
344. 12:02stairwell. The color went out of it
345. 12:04slowly until it matched the gray
346. 12:06laminate. "Greg," Holly said. "Greg,
347. 12:09she's gone," he said very quietly.
348. 12:12"She's in the basement. Tell her we'll
349. 12:14pay double for the week. The booking is
350. 12:16non-refundable. It's $6,800."
351. 12:19"I know what it is." He walked past her
352. 12:22to the basement door and opened it. I
353. 12:24was sitting in the rocker by then with
354. 12:25my hands folded, my purse on my knee.
355. 12:28The room behind me was bare. The
356. 12:30bookshelves were empty and the walls
357. 12:31were the same terracotta and four boxes
358. 12:33sat by the basement door. Holly came
359. 12:36down the stairs behind him in her good
360. 12:38heels, clicking on the concrete. When
361. 12:40she saw the empty room, her face went
362. 12:42through three expressions in about a
363. 12:44second. I'd call the last one genuine
364. 12:46astonishment.
365. 12:47She actually packed, she said. We're
366. 12:50stranded with two kids on the morning of
367. 12:51our trip because I asked her to babysit.
368. 12:54You didn't ask, Greg said. He turned
369. 12:57around. I had not seen that look on my
370. 12:59son since he was 19 and decided to move
371. 13:01out of G to go to school. You didn't
372. 13:04ask, Holly. You told her to leave if she
373. 13:06said no. And I stood there. His voice
374. 13:09cracked and then steadied. She didn't
375. 13:10leave because of a babysitting request.
376. 13:12She left because you've been treating
377. 13:14her like staff in my house and I let you
378. 13:16every single day for 2 years. I got up,
379. 13:19picked up my purse and said, "Good
380. 13:21morning, Holly. Good morning, son."
381. 13:23Outside, a horn sounded twice. The
382. 13:26airport shuttle had arrived and was
383. 13:27idling at the curb, its headlights
384. 13:29laying two amber stripes across the
385. 13:31basement window. Holly looked at the
386. 13:33window and then at me. "You can't just
387. 13:35do this," she said. It was the first
388. 13:37time I'd ever heard her voice go thin.
389. 13:39"We have a flight." "You have a flight,"
390. 13:41I said. Ava and Jack have a father. I
391. 13:44suggest you ask him. The courier came
392. 13:46while the shuttle driver was still
393. 13:48honking. It was a young man in a
394. 13:49reflective vest holding a long white
395. 13:51envelope and a clipboard
396. 13:54and watched Holly sign for it in the
397. 13:56cold in her trench coat with her hand
398. 13:58shaking so hard the pen skated. She tore
399. 14:01it open under the porch light. The
400. 14:03notice was two pages. I could tell from
401. 14:05her face when she got to the 60-day
402. 14:07clause because she had read the original
403. 14:09page with a pencil in her hand two years
404. 14:11ago and she remembered precisely what it
405. 14:13meant. The mover pulled in at 1:00, a
406. 14:16quiet young man named Leo, who was
407. 14:18putting himself through college. He took
408. 14:20the rocker and the desk out to the van
409. 14:22as if they were something precious. I
410. 14:24swept the basement floor for the last
411. 14:26time myself. Greg stood on the porch,
412. 14:28unshaven in the same shirt with Jack on
413. 14:30his hip and Ava holding his sleeve. He
414. 14:33had canled the shuttle and phoned in to
415. 14:35work. Holly was at the dining room table
416. 14:37on the phone with the airline saying,
417. 14:39"No, I understand it's non-refundable."
418. 14:41in a voice that kept climbing. I hugged
419. 14:43both children for a long time. Ava asked
420. 14:46if I was coming back and I said I'd be
421. 14:47at the lake and that she could come and
422. 14:48see my new garden. And she said, "Can we
423. 14:50bring Daddy?" And I said, "Daddy, yes."
424. 14:53Greg looked at me over her head and
425. 14:54mouthed, "I'm sorry." I nodded. I meant
426. 14:57it kindly. I just didn't have anything
427. 14:59to add to it. No one shouted. No one
428. 15:02threw anything. I closed the van door
429. 15:04with a solid thud and got into my own
430. 15:06Subaru, parked at the end of the drive
431. 15:08where it had been all along with a full
432. 15:10tank and a Tim Horton's cup in the
433. 15:11holder. People ask whether I didn't have
434. 15:13a car. Of course, I had a car. I paid
435. 15:15cash for it in 2019. I'd never been
436. 15:18trapped in that house. I had stayed
437. 15:20because I wanted to be near my
438. 15:21grandchildren and because I loved my
439. 15:23son, and love is a reason, but it
440. 15:25doesn't have to be a contract. I
441. 15:27followed Leo's van onto the 401 and then
442. 15:30down toward the lake. and about
443. 15:31Woodstock the cloud broke and a strip of
444. 15:34gold light lay across the stubble
445. 15:35fields. My hands were steady on the
446. 15:37wheel. The Port Stanley cottage is
447. 15:40yellow with a white porch and a view of
448. 15:42the water through a stand of old maples.
449. 15:44I moved in that Thursday. By Saturday, I
450. 15:47had the rocker by the window, Phil's
451. 15:49photograph on the sill and a kettle
452. 15:50going on a stove that I had picked out
453. 15:52for myself. On Sunday morning, I phoned
454. 15:54Greg as I had promised and we spoke for
455. 15:5640 minutes. He cried and I let him. And
456. 15:59I didn't say that it was all right
457. 16:00because it wasn't yet. Here is the part
458. 16:02that people in the comments always want
459. 16:04to hear, and I'll tell it plainly. Holly
460. 16:08lost the trip. The resort kept the
461. 16:10deposit, and the airline gave them a
462. 16:11credit that expired in a year, and they
463. 16:14were so far past the cancellation window
464. 16:16that it didn't matter how she argued.
465. 16:18$6,800
466. 16:19gone on a morning when she'd sooner have
467. 16:22been anywhere else. But that was the
468. 16:24small loss. The notice was real. 60
469. 16:27days. Greg and Holly owed $85,000 to a
470. 16:31woman they'd just been telling to get
471. 16:32out. The bank looked at their income,
472. 16:35their mortgage, and their new line of
473. 16:36credit. And in mid December, they
474. 16:38refinanced at a rate nearly three points
475. 16:40higher than the one they'd had. I know
476. 16:42because my lawyer told me, and I know
477. 16:44because Greg told me, too. He didn't
478. 16:46hide it. Holly dropped her hours to
479. 16:48part-time for 6 weeks so that she could
480. 16:50manage the two children and the
481. 16:51paperwork, which is a thing she had
482. 16:53always assumed I would do for free. They
483. 16:56canled the cottage rental they'd booked
484. 16:57for July. They cancelled the second car.
485. 17:00Holly's mother, who lives in Barry and
486. 17:02had never offered to babysit in her
487. 17:03life, got a very pointed phone call. In
488. 17:06February, on a Saturday so cold that the
489. 17:08lake was steaming. A gray Honda pulled
490. 17:10into the lot behind my cottage. I
491. 17:13watched from the window as Holly got out
492. 17:14in a long wool coat. She had the check
493. 17:16in her hand. I'd told Greg they could
494. 17:18send it by courier. She'd driven 2 hours
495. 17:20instead. She stood on my porch with snow
496. 17:23on her boots and held the envelope out
497. 17:25to me. "885,000," she said. "All of it.
498. 17:28Greg's in the car with the kids. He said
499. 17:30I should do this part." "Thank you," I
500. 17:33said. I took it. She looked past me into
501. 17:35the cottage at the rocker and the
502. 17:37shelves and the light on the
503. 17:38floorboards. I think she'd expected to
504. 17:41find a sad old woman in a cardigan. I
505. 17:43could see her working that out. "I was
506. 17:45awful to you," she said. and it came out
507. 17:48like a thing she'd rehearsed on the 401
508. 17:50and wasn't sure she believed. I thought
509. 17:52you were part of the house, like the
510. 17:54furnace. I know, I said. I'm trying to
511. 17:58do better, she swallowed. I don't know
512. 18:00if that counts for anything. It counts
513. 18:02for something, I said. It doesn't buy a
514. 18:04room in my life, but it counts. She
515. 18:07nodded. For once, she did not have
516. 18:08another sentence. I went out onto the
517. 18:11porch with my coat over my sweater and
518. 18:12Ava came running up the path in her pink
519. 18:14snowsuit with Jack behind her shouting
520. 18:16about whether there was a beach. I held
521. 18:18out both arms. They come now on the
522. 18:21first Saturday of the month, sometimes
523. 18:23the third, always after phoning ahead.
524. 18:25They stay at the little inn on Bridge
525. 18:27Street and pay for it themselves. Holly
526. 18:29brings a pie store-bought and I don't
527. 18:31say a word. Greg and I have been working
528. 18:33on his oatmeal, which he now makes for
529. 18:35himself badly, and which he brought in a
530. 18:38thermos last time to show me. I told him
531. 18:40it needed salt. I sit on the porch with
532. 18:42my tea and watch the white caps roll in,
533. 18:44and the children chase each other across
534. 18:46the frozen grass, and I don't rush any
535. 18:48of it. There's a new band saw in the
536. 18:50shop that I use on Tuesdays and
537. 18:52Thursdays. I'm restoring a pine wash
538. 18:54stand for a woman in cottage 9. My
539. 18:56raised beds are full of kale and
540. 18:58rosemary. I set my empty cup on the arm
541. 19:00of the rocker and listened to the lake.
542. 19:02The joint was tight, the wood was true,
543. 19:05and the life I had built in it was
544. 19:06finally my own.