She sat beside me instead of across the table.

“I was afraid you’d think I was making another financial decision for you.”

“Then tell me that before making it.”

“All right.”

The note did not erase the debt between us, financial or otherwise.

It kept the categories honest.

We would work out responsibility, any repayment or offset, and what money was available without disguising it as a charge against the disputed house.

I had chosen to stay engaged.