“No.”
“Mom!”
I kept my voice calm.
“Do you remember when you were eight and wanted to build a fort in the backyard?”
He stared at me.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You cut down one of your father’s young maple trees because it was in your way.”
He shifted uncomfortably.
“And when Thomas found out, he didn’t yell.
He made you plant two new trees.”
“Mom—”
“He told you something that day.
Do you remember?”
Jared’s face hardened.
I remembered every word.
“Just because something stands in the way of what you want doesn’t mean it has no right to be there.”
Jared pushed back his chair.
“You’re comparing a major investment to a tree?”
“I’m asking whether you remember what your father taught you.”
He stood.
“This is why nobody can have a practical conversation with you.”
I rose too.
