Chapter 7

When I checked on Mom, she was asleep on her bed, fully dressed. This should have warned me she might be wide awake overnight but I had no idea, innocent that I was. I made some calls to my sisters, and then to some homes for old people, and then to the probation officer, to see if I could get input from him before Mom’s next appointment. I was curious about him. I hadn’t seen very much of him, but what I had seen, I liked. We decided to meet for lunch the next day.

Tristan had come running down the stairs just before an early supper, hissing, “The wife is home next door! Her name is Joan, and she’s a complete floozie! What a bitch! He’d be so much better off with a man!”