Gabriel’s POV
Yesterday, after dinner, when everybody had gone. I wasn’t in a rush to leave the dining room. Grandma also was still there, she sat across from me, her fingers lightly tapping against the wooden table, a habit she had whenever she was deep in thought. The house was quiet now, the air thick with the remnants of an earlier tension that hadn’t quite settled.
Then she spoke.
“I wasn’t surprised to see him today,” she said, almost absently.
I didn’t need to ask who she was talking about.
I scoffed, leaning back in my chair. “Of course you weren’t. He always comes back.”
“He’s still my son.”
“He’s still a problem,” I countered. “Let me guess. He’s broke again, and now he’s come running back to his safety net.”
Grandma gave me a sharp look, the kind that used to send fear d
