Iris had petitioned for protection.

She knew an initial hearing was only a beginning, not the end of the matter, but she also knew that her request was now more than words spoken in a kitchen.

Garrett called his mother, Evelyn, and told her Iris had “invented a domestic incident.” Evelyn had never liked Iris’s insistence on keeping her own finances, and she phoned Iris that afternoon to explain the importance of preserving family dignity.

“Marriage isn’t a business contract,” Evelyn said.