Then she walked inside.
She didn’t wait for an invitation.
She didn’t ask where she should put her things.
She simply looked around the house.
“Oh,” she said. “You changed the curtains.”
I forced a smile.
“Yes.”
“Mark liked the old ones.”
I said nothing.
She walked toward the kitchen.
Then she opened one of our cabinets.
“These should be over here.”
She moved a stack of serving plates.
I stared at her.
“Claire?”
She looked over her shoulder.
“Yes?”
“Please don’t rearrange anything.”
She smiled.
“Of course.”
Then she rearranged another cabinet.
I clenched my jaw.
A few minutes later, she started moving the place cards around the dining table.
“Mark should sit at the head.”
“He’s the birthday person.”
“Exactly.”
She picked up my place card.
“This should go here.”
She placed it farther away.
Then she took another card.
“And I’ll sit here.”
She pulled out the chair beside Mark.
