“And what,” I asked, “am I supposed to do while the three of you relax in paradise?”

Evelyn gave me the sweet, hollow smile she always produced right before an insult, the one that made the insult sound like a gift.

“Well, Clara, you have your family’s old cabin up in the hills.

Take the children.

The country air is wonderful for them.

The yard needs clearing, the vegetable patch needs digging up — and honestly, a little physical labor is so good for clearing the mind.