represented thousands of dollars and years of assumptions nobody had ever questioned.
On the first cool evening of autumn, Susan opened the downstairs windows.
Then she turned off the air-conditioning herself.
The irony made her laugh.
She made tea and carried it into her father’s restored study.
Then she sat in his old chair.
Her phone buzzed.
Richard.
His message was longer than usual.
I used to think keeping the peace meant making sure Mom never got angry. Now I realize I wasn’t keeping peace at all. I was transferring
