Margaret drew a sharp breath, her hand rising to her pearl necklace.

“May we come down to Colorado Springs next weekend?”

“If you give forty-eight hours’ notice,” I said.

“And if Ethan stays here in Aspen until he understands what accountability requires.”

Ethan stepped quickly away from the wall, his signet ring scraping against his pocket.

“Grace, you can’t dictate my access to my own children.”

“I’m setting the exact boundaries you made necessary eight years ago,” I said, stepping up to the mahogany desk and putting the certified hospital records back into my leather briefcase.

I laid the thick manila folders inside, straightened the edges of the paper, and snapped my leather briefcase shut on the library desk.