I hadn’t raised a child alone.

I had Eleanor.

But I had also bought school clothes and made midnight pharmacy trips; I knew enough to understand that love and care could not be measured by a single annual transfer.

“Maybe I don’t know everything,” I replied.

“That’s why I’m asking.”

Mark stood so abruptly that the chair scraped the floor.

“Emma has been putting ideas in your head, hasn’t she?”

I felt fear rise, sharp and immediate.