I stayed on the veranda until my coffee cooled. I’d once imagined that being indispensable would make me feel loved. For six weeks I’d been indispensable in ways nobody thought to notice until I stopped. I’d rather be welcomed as Linda, their mother and grandmother, than relied upon as an invisible solution to every gap.
I thought again of the tea I’d poured Claire after her late meeting. The mistake was assuming our shared moment guaranteed she’d protect my time unless told how much it mattered. Now she and Daniel
