For Fourteen Years My Son Lived Rent-Free in a House He Believed Was His

I put my water glass down on the paper placemat.

“Oh, was he?” I asked.

“He said his business expansion is finally going ahead,” Chloe said.

She took a little sip from her mug and dabbed her lip with a napkin.

“He told Mom he found the money to double his office space downtown.”

“Did he say where the money came from?” I asked.

“He said he was refinancing the big house,” Chloe said.

“He told Mom we might even get a new swimming pool put in out back next summer.”