“Move those crutches again, Lauren, and I swear we’re going to have a problem.”

Daniel Brooks caught his fiancée’s hand just before she pulled his mother’s aluminum crutches away from the dining table.

Lauren Webb turned toward him, her carefully arranged smile disappearing.

“Excuse me?”

“Mom needs those beside her.”

“I was moving them out of the walkway.”

“Then ask her first.”

Lauren glanced toward Evelyn Brooks, who sat silently beneath the backyard string lights.

“Evelyn, would you please explain that I was only trying to help?”

The older woman looked at the ground.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of her cardigan.

“It’s fine,” she whispered.

Daniel stared at her.

“Mom, you don’t have to say that.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

But she didn’t look like she knew.

Lauren released the crutches with an irritated sigh.

“Wonderful. Now everyone thinks I’m mistreating your mother.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Then maybe don’t raise your voice at me in front of forty people.”

Daniel glanced toward the neighboring table.

Two relatives quickly looked away.

He lowered his voice.

“I’m asking you to let her keep what she needs.”

Lauren smiled again.

It happened so quickly that Daniel almost questioned whether he’d seen her anger at all.

“Of course, honey.”

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“Whatever makes your mother comfortable.”

Evelyn flinched when Lauren brushed past her chair.

Daniel noticed.

Before he could ask about it, Lauren moved toward the patio and called for another tray of drinks.

The argument had lasted less than a minute.

Yet Daniel felt strangely unsettled.

He turned toward his mother.

“Are you okay?”

Evelyn nodded.

Her answer arrived too quickly.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

Daniel pulled out a chair beside her.

“You look tired.”

“It’s been a long day.”

“Do you want me to take you inside?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

She finally raised her eyes.

“Please let me stay.”

Something about the request made Daniel pause.

He hadn’t suggested sending her home.

He only wanted her to rest.

Still, Evelyn looked as though she expected him to insist.

“Of course you can stay.”

She swallowed.

“Thank you.”

Daniel examined her face.

Dark bruising surrounded both eyes, and a fading yellow mark stretched across her left cheek.

The injuries looked worse beneath the warm evening lights.

His mother had suffered two falls during her recovery from hip surgery.

That was what Lauren had explained.

Daniel had accepted the explanations because Evelyn hadn’t contradicted them.

But seeing her tonight made him wonder whether he’d accepted too much.

“Does your face still hurt?” he asked.

“Not much.”

“Mom.”

She looked away.

“A little.”

He leaned closer.

“You should’ve told me.”

Evelyn gave him a tired smile.

“You’ve been busy.”

“Not too busy for you.”

She didn’t answer.

Instead, her gaze moved toward Lauren.

Daniel followed it.

His fiancée was laughing with a group of guests near the outdoor bar.

Her long blonde hair rested against the shoulders of her ivory cocktail dress.

She looked relaxed, confident, and entirely at home.

Daniel turned back to his mother.

“Lauren’s been taking good care of you, right?”

Evelyn’s lips parted.

For a moment, he thought she might disagree.

Then she lowered her eyes.

“She’s spent a great deal of time helping me.”

Daniel nodded.

“That means a lot.”

His mother said nothing.

He reached for her hand.

She let him hold it, but her fingers remained stiff.

Across the table, his eight-year-old daughter Grace watched them with unusual concentration.

She wore a pale blue dress with tiny embroidered flowers near the collar.

Her brown hair had been brushed into a neat half ponytail.

Usually, Grace couldn’t sit still at family gatherings.

She loved chasing cousins, sneaking desserts, and showing adults whatever she’d recently learned at school.

Tonight, she hadn’t left Evelyn’s side.

Daniel smiled at her.

“What’s wrong, pumpkin?”

Grace shook her head.

“Nothing.”

“Why aren’t you playing with the other kids?”

“I want to stay with Grandma.”

“She’s not going anywhere.”

Grace glanced at Evelyn.

Her grandmother gave the smallest smile.

“I like having her here,” Evelyn said.

Daniel touched Grace’s shoulder.

“Okay. But make sure Grandma gets some dinner.”

“I already did.”

“Good girl.”

Grace looked down at something beneath the table.

Daniel caught a glimpse of folded notebook paper in her hand.

He assumed it was another drawing.

Grace had been making cards for everyone lately.

She had given Lauren a picture of a wedding cake that morning.

She had also drawn Evelyn standing without crutches.

Daniel remembered how long his mother had stared at that picture.

For the first time, he wondered whether the drawing had made her sad.

A voice called his name from the patio.

“Daniel! You’re needed over here!”

Marcus Hill waved from beside the drinks table.