“Tell me what I’m looking at.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“It’s complicated.”
“Most things worth telling the truth about are.”
He looked back toward the house.
Ruth did not rush him.
Finally he said, “Natalie gets angry when plans change.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I know.”
“Are you afraid of her?”
His jaw tightened.
“Sometimes.”
The word hurt more than Ruth expected.
She had come prepared to survive a wet couch and an unkind daughter-in-law. She had not come prepared to discover that her forty-two-year-old son was measuring his movements around his own home.
“Has she hit you?” Ruth asked.
“No.”
“Threatened you?”
Kevin hesitated.
“Not like that.”
“Then tell me what it is like.”
He looked at the porch.
“She controls the accounts. She says I’m bad with money, so my paycheck goes into the joint account and she moves most of it. If I question something, she says I’m trying to make her insecure. She reads my messages. If I make plans without asking, she’ll cancel them or make it miserable enough that I stop trying.”
Ruth felt her stomach tighten.
“And me?”
Kevin closed his eyes.
“She thinks you interfere.”
“I helped with the down payment because you asked.”
“I know.”
“I bought the refrigerator because yours died the week before Christmas.”
“I know.”
“I watch the dog because I like the dog.”
A broken laugh escaped him.
“I know.”
“Then what does interfere mean?”
Kevin’s face crumpled.
“It means you are someone I can call.”
Ruth understood.
Natalie did not resent only money or visits.
She resented an exit.
Ruth reached for her son’s hand.
“Listen to me carefully. I am not going to tell you what to do with your marriage tonight.”
He looked surprised.
“I thought you would.”
“I am going to tell you what I am doing. I am leaving this house tonight. I am getting food. I am finding a hotel. Tomorrow I am dealing with the flood and my insurance. You may call me if you want help finding a counselor or a lawyer or a place to sleep. You may also call me if you just want your mother.”
His eyes filled.
“But I will not come back inside and pretend this is normal so you can keep avoiding the question.”
Kevin swallowed.
“Okay.”
Ruth opened the trunk.
He put the suitcase inside.
