“With what?”
“With wages.”
I looked at him.
He had been telling me he was still searching.
“How long?”
He rubbed his thumb along the sink’s edge.
“Four months.”
June’s hands tightened together.
Four months of electricity bills paid from my pension. Four months of asking whether he needed gas money for interviews.
“I was trying to get caught up,” he said.
“On what?”
Rebecca closed the laptop.
“That isn’t your business.”
The doorbell rang.
Lillian stood outside carrying a canvas folder. Her coat was buttoned crookedly, one side higher than the other.
“I know you didn’t invite me,” she said.
I stepped aside.
Rebecca rose when she saw her.
“Mom, I told you to wait.”
Lillian set the folder on the table and took out a printed bank statement.
“Where is my money?”
“We already discussed this.”
“No. You discussed it. I listened.”
She placed three invoices beside the statement. They carried the name of a construction company and my address.
“Your father left that money so I wouldn’t have to ask you for help.”
Rebecca reached across the table, but Lillian put her hand over the papers.
Andrew said, “I thought it was a loan.”
Every face turned toward him.
Lillian’s mouth opened slightly.
“You knew?”
