Instead, he tested the drawer handle and reached for another screw.

“Whatever you decide, make sure you can pay your bills.”

That was Dad’s answer to nearly everything.

Pay your bills.

Save your money.

Don’t expect life to be easy.

I wondered whether he had always been like that, or whether Mom had taken the softer part of him with her.

The only person who seemed to remember a different version of my father was Marcus.