It felt like the kind of thing somebody would have taken down by now.

Her phone flipped over on the counter and buzzed twice.

She read it and laid it face down.

“Julian is trying to build something important right now,” she said.

“He doesn’t need the estate turning into a mess.”

I hadn’t said a single word about the estate turning into a mess.

“You’ll sign the waiver on Wednesday,” she said.

“David has it all drawn up.

Once probate closes, we can all quit living out of boxes.”

“A waiver of what, exactly, Mom?”

“The routine paperwork.” She set a mug down harder than she meant to.

“It lets the estate settle without any fuss.

You’re not going to fight your own mother over furniture.”

It wasn’t a question.