The total at the bottom was four hundred dollars, stamped in red ink as paid in full by credit card.

Printed clearly under the customer billing name was Sylvia Donnelly, along with her home address on Elm Street in Park Ridge.

I read down the itemized list of charges.

Three hours of deep kitchen sanitation, laundry washing and folding, baseboards, and bathroom cleaning, scheduled twice a month through November and December.

Three weeks ago, Ethan had told me he was staying up until midnight every Tuesday and Thursday doing those exact household chores so I could focus on driving my mother Martha to her speech and physical therapy sessions.

He had complained constantly about how exhausted he was from keeping the bungalow clean while I looked after my mother.