“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to.”
“That isn’t the point.”
He picked up the brochure.
“An active-adult community?”
“Don’t say it like I’m checking into a hospital.”
“I didn’t.”
“You used your hospital voice.”
Rebecca almost smiled.
So did I.
The small moment disappeared quickly, but not completely.
Daniel opened the brochure.
“Two bedrooms?”
“For guests.”
“Mom, you could buy somewhere closer.”
“It’s fourteen minutes away.”
“Without traffic.”
“In Arizona there is always traffic.”
Rebecca took the brochure from him.
“This patio is nice.”
“It is.”
“Have you seen it?”
“With Linda.”
Daniel looked wounded.
“You took Linda?”
“She took me.”
He leaned back.
“You planned all this in a week.”
“No. I started considering it in a week.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference is I haven’t made a decision.”
He nodded slowly.
I looked at the loan documents.
“There is another issue.”
“The money,” he said.
“Yes.”
Daniel folded his arms.
“We can refinance.”
“Should you?”
“What do you mean?”
“What would it do to your payments?”
He hesitated.
“They’d go up.”
“How much?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Rebecca said quietly, “Probably more than we can comfortably manage.”
