“Evan, it’s just dishes. We’re hosting people. Meredith’s part of the family.”

I shook my head slowly.

“Family doesn’t speak to someone like that.”

Meredith shrank slightly when the conversation grew tense, and that small movement hurt more than anything Allison had said.

It meant she had learned to expect conflict.

I turned gently toward her.

“Meredith… did you want to be doing this?”

She hesitated.

For a brief moment she glanced toward Allison before answering.

That glance told me everything.

A House That Had Changed

Allison tried to recover control of the conversation.

“You’re overreacting,” she insisted. “Meredith has been sensitive lately. Mom even said she—”

I raised a hand.

“That’s enough.”