“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you said you wanted to help with the wedding.”
“I said ten thousand.”
“You said you wanted to help.”
“I gave ten thousand.”
“Which barely covers the venue.”
June looked at the concrete wall.
“Barely.”
Ethan inhaled.
“That came out wrong.”
“No. I think it came out correctly.”
“Mom.”
“How much is the florist?”
“About forty-five hundred.”
“And you told them I would pay?”
“Claire thought—”
“Did you?”
Silence.
June waited.
“Yes.”
She nodded to herself.
“Then call them back.”
“What?”
“Tell them you made a mistake.”
“Mom, the flowers are already booked.”
“Then pay for them.”
“We can’t just absorb another forty-five hundred.”
June laughed once.
“So you absorbed it into me.”
“That’s not fair.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you’re acting like we use you.”
June leaned against the stairwell wall.
“I’m beginning to think you do.”
Ethan went quiet.
Then his voice changed.
“You know what? Maybe Claire was right.”
June’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“About what?”
