I Paid Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars for a Family Trip, and They Planned It Without Me

At 2:47 the phone lit up on the coffee table and buzzed against the wood.

Lucas.

Helen looked at the screen, then at me, and nodded once.

I picked it up on the fourth ring.

“Hello.”

“Mom.” Traffic behind him, or a crowd, or both.

“Mom.

Mom, listen to me.”