“No, Mary. Old-fashioned is expecting responsibility. What Richard does is something else.”

I lowered my voice and glanced toward the stairs. “I can’t talk about this right now.”

“You never can,” she said. “Just promise me you’ll watch Elliot.”

“I always do.”

After I hung up, I went back to the kitchen, and Elliot showed me the bird he’d drawn.

I told him it was beautiful, and a small smile crossed his face, and for one quiet moment the kitchen felt like it belonged to just the two of us.

Then Richard came downstairs carrying a duffel bag I had never seen before.