Chapter 5

The next morning, I saw four new orders on our joint account.

Curtains, a nightstand, a storage cabinet, and a desk.

All of them were being delivered to our house.

I pulled up the orders and showed them to Adam.

"What are these?"

He was drinking coffee and barely glanced at them.

"Things Mom needs for her room."

"Isn't she only staying for a few weeks?"

Adam set down his cup.

"Some of it will make things easier for her now, and she can still use it later."

"Later?"

I opened one of the orders.

"Over seven hundred dollars. Are you planning to redecorate that room?"

"Lauren helped Mom pick everything out. You saw them looking at stuff yesterday."

"I saw them discussing it. That doesn't mean I agreed to it."

Adam sighed.

"Claire, it's just a few pieces of furniture."

"Then when is she moving out?"

"We haven't decided yet."

"Didn't the doctor say she needed another three or four weeks of rest?"

"That's how long she needs to recover."

"So even after she recovers, your mother is still going to live here?"

Adam picked up his coffee but didn't drink it.

"Mom's house isn't really suitable for her anymore."

"You never discussed that with me."

"I talked about it with Mom and Lauren before the surgery."

I suddenly thought about the curtain catalog from last night.

So they were planning for her to stay in my home long-term.

"When she moved into my studio, you didn't tell me. When Lauren moved in, you didn't tell me. And now you've been discussing the possibility of your mother living here permanently, and you still don't think you need to tell me."

"Don't make it sound like we've been planning something behind your back."

"Then tell me what else you've been planning."

Adam's expression darkened.

"Mom can't keep living alone. That's a fact."

"That's not what I asked."

"Then what exactly do you want to hear?"

"I want to know why no one talks to me about decisions involving my own home. This is my house too, Adam."

"I know. I never said it wasn't."

"But right now, Diane has a room, Lauren has a room, and my studio is in the basement. They're even making plans to rearrange my home."

"They're just thinking ahead."

"Then so am I."

Adam looked up.

"What does that mean?"

"When my studio is restored, no one is going to live there permanently."

He visibly froze.

"Claire—"

"No."

It was the first time I didn't explain myself.

Adam stared at me.

"You can't just make that decision right now."

"Why not?"

"Because we haven't discussed it."

"If your mother needs long-term care, we can discuss other options together. But this is my home too. You don't get to make decisions like this without my consent."

"You're making this harder than it needs to be."

"I'm not the one making it hard."

I closed the order page.

"Cancel the furniture."

"Claire."

"If she's only staying for three or four weeks, she doesn't need a whole new set of furniture."

I picked up my laptop and started toward the basement.

Adam stopped me from behind.

"What if Mom really can't go back to her old house?"

I stopped.

"Then we decide what to do together."

"What if there isn't a better option?"

I turned around.

"'Better' for who, Adam? Better for them, or for me?"

Adam didn't answer.

I went downstairs.

That night, I logged back into our joint account.

The curtains and nightstand still hadn't been canceled.

And the order status had changed from "Processing" to "Preparing for Shipment."