“Of course.”
“You will not ask him to apologize.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You will not let your mother contact him.”
“Okay.”
“She is not allowed in this house.”
He inhaled slowly.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Claire.”
“What answer would make you comfortable?”
He said nothing.
“I’m not making decisions based on your mother’s comfort anymore.”
He nodded.
Then I said, “And you are going to stay somewhere else for a few days.”
His head came up.
“This is my home too.”
I almost smiled at the irony.
Emotionally, maybe.
Legally, no.
But I did not use the deed against him.
That was not what I wanted.
“I know this is your home,” I said. “I’m telling you I need space.”
“For how long?”
“A few days.”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
The answer was obvious.
He knew it too.
“My mother’s?”
