He rubbed the back of his neck in one hard, fast stroke.

“You can’t treat me like a tenant.”

“Legally, that’s exactly what you are,” Margaret said.

The front door clicked open, and Melissa came out onto the porch steps.

She pushed three heavy gold bracelets up her right wrist, sliding them past her watch.

“What’s going on out here?” Melissa yelled across the front yard.

Next door, Mrs.

Gable stopped clipping her rosebushes by the white picket fence and leaned over a little to listen.