“That fits what I remember.”
“She used part of that money on him. Then he came back asking for more. She panicked and took Amber’s college cash.”
Ruth nodded slowly.
“And now?”
“Anthony is fifty-three years old and apparently still showing up when he needs money.”
Ruth sighed.
Some family roles aged badly but survived beautifully.
Marcus opened another document.
“Loretta agreed to sign over control of her tax payments to Amber.”
Ruth frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Amber is going to pay the county directly. No more cash transfers.”
“That is sensible.”
“And Anthony gets nothing.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow.
“According to whom?”
“According to Amber.”
Ruth smiled.
“Then we will see.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You really don’t trust people when they announce changes.”
“I trust changes when they survive inconvenience.”
He sat with that.
Then he said, “Amber wants to apologize to you again.”
Ruth looked down at the folder.
“She already did.”
“She thinks it wasn’t enough.”
“It wasn’t.”
Marcus looked surprised.
Ruth continued.
“But repeating the words will not increase their value.”
“What does?”
“Behavior.”
Marcus nodded.
Three months passed.
Amber did not ask Ruth to forgive her.
That helped.
She did other things instead.
She stopped making jokes about Ruth’s age.
She stopped speaking over her at family dinners.
