Peter leaned back like I had slapped him.
Elise looked down at the table and went very quiet.
Neither of them argued.
Their reactions should have mattered to me more than it did.
Instead, I told Harold what happened.
He took my hand and spoke in the careful tone he used when he wanted to sound patient rather than persuasive.
"But people get strange about love and inheritance."
"They’re afraid of losing the life they're used to."
"What does that mean?"
"You, your house, their place in your life. Maybe none of it is conscious. But people get strange about love and inheritance."
I pulled my hand away.
"My children are not greedy."
He nodded at once.
That was the clever part. He never called them greedy.
"I hope not."
That was the clever part. He never called them greedy. He just placed the idea beside me and let it breathe.
