Her eyes dropped to my left hand. “You think he married you because he loves you? He’s been scared to disobey his mother his whole life. Marrying you was just him obeying me one more time.”
The ring caught the light. Jake put it on my finger himself at our wedding. With a few words, she’d turned that day into a footnote in her account book.
“Mom. That’s enough.” Jake finally spoke.
His voice was low — low like he was afraid of waking something up. But he didn’t deny it. Not one word against “scared to disobey.”
I was done listening to her put a price tag on this house. I turned to Jake, and my voice came out so steady it surprised me:
“Jake. Here’s your choice. One: you walk your mother out that door right now, and then we talk this through, just us.
Two: I go stay at a friend’s place. You stay in her little book, think about what you want, and come find me when you know.”
