“I’d like you to believe I’m allowed to be hurt, even when Vanessa is hurting too.”

Mom gave a small sound of irritation.

“I need time to think about that.”

“Take it.”

When we ended the call, I expected the old guilt to arrive like clockwork.

It did, briefly.

I had been trained to hear my mother’s disappointment as an emergency.

But the sensation passed while I watered the seedlings.