Alvarez brought lemonade.

For the first time in years, I was not the only person figuring out how to keep the house standing.

Still, I had uneasy moments.

One afternoon, after Evelyn bought Poppy a winter coat, I worried aloud that generosity might become another way someone decided how we should live.

Evelyn took me seriously.

“Tell me when I’m overstepping,” she said.

“I had no practice being an older sister after I was five.