The Hundred Thousand Dollar Ledger

Summary

"Six days. Don't you think your mom's visit has, you know, run its course?"

My husband, Adam, put his fork down with a deliberate clatter that nearly sent it skittering across the table.

My mother, Elaine, sitting next to me, visibly flinched. Her face went white.

She left the next morning. Clutching the bag of fruit I had insisted she take, her shoulders slightly stooped, she looked back at me just before the security checkpoint at the train station.

I didn't have the courage to meet her eyes.