I shrugged.
“But Julia’s feelings about my choices aren’t my responsibility. She has you to process with.”
The barb landed, and my mother winced.
We finished our meals in near silence. When the check came, I reached for it.
“I’ve got this,” my mother said.
“I can pay for myself.”
“I know you can.”
She met my eyes.
“Let me do this.”
It was such a small thing, paying for lunch. But something in her expression made me release the check and let her take it.
As we walked to our cars, she stopped beside her Mercedes.
“Can I see it?”
“See what?”
“Your house.”
I studied her face, looking for the catch.
“Why?”
“Because I want to see what I missed.”
Her voice cracked slightly.
“Please.”
I thought about saying no, about keeping this one thing separate and sacred. But something in me relented.
“Follow me,” I said.
The drive took 20 minutes. I watched her car in my rearview mirror, this surreal caravan of confrontation and consequence. When we pulled up to my house, she parked behind me and got out slowly. I watched her take in the Craftsman architecture, the restored porch, the garden beds I had planted. Her hand went to her mouth.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Thank you.”
I unlocked the front door and let her inside. She moved through the rooms like someone in a museum, taking in every detail. The built-in bookshelves I had custom made. The kitchen where I had agonized over every cabinet pull. The reading nook where I spent Sunday mornings with coffee and novels. In the living room, she stopped in front of the fireplace mantel. I had arranged photos there. Pictures from the housewarming party. Shots of the renovation process. A framed photo of me at my law school graduation that Aunt Paula had taken.
“You look so happy here,” she said, pointing to a picture of me laughing with friends at the party.
“I was happy. I am happy.”
She picked up the graduation photo, studying it closely.
“I wasn’t at this, was I?”
“No. You were helping Julia apartment hunt that weekend. She was moving from one side of town to the other. A fifteen-minute difference in commute time.”
