“What happened over there?

Did Peter do something dumb?” she asked, her sharp instincts catching my distress at once.

I started out giving her a short, cleaned-up summary of our money stress, but before I knew it, the whole awful dam burst and I spilled every single detail of what Peter and Gretchen had planned for Austin.

Beth went completely quiet on the other end of the line when I told her about the birthday savings Austin had piled on the kitchen table to buy one more month of my love.

“I’m going to drive over there right now and punch your husband straight in the mouth,” Beth said, her voice shaking with pure, raw fury.