“That doesn’t give you the right to turn this house into a landing strip for your work schedule,” he said, shifting his weight on the porch steps.

“I carried three years of house payments so you could build your consulting business,” I said quietly.

“Don’t start doing the books at midnight on the front porch,” he said, stepping back just far enough for me to get through the door.

He held the edge of the door with two fingers and didn’t offer to carry my heavy briefcase.

“Eleanor spent two hours on a dinner nobody ate,” he added as I came inside.