Me: Did Grandma give you $4,800 for her ticket and expenses?
Dad: She gave it toward the trip.
Me: Did you buy her a ticket?
“She gave it toward the trip.”
Dad: She got overwhelmed at the airport.
Me: That’s not what I asked.
Dad: She was slowing everyone down, Drea. She wouldn’t have enjoyed all that walking anyway.
Me: Did you buy her ticket?
Dad: She’s retired. It was basically her gift to the family. Tell her we’re grateful.
Grandma watched my face. “What did he say?”
I locked my phone.
“Enough.”
“Did you buy her ticket?”
***
That night, I studied for forty minutes, read the same paragraph six times, then called Mom. She answered from a hotel bathroom.
“Hi, honey. Are you okay?”
“Mom, did you know Grandma paid $4,800 for this trip? For her ticket. Not for the rest of you.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Did Dad tell you?”
I studied for forty minutes.
“No. He said he surprised her. He said she got scared at the airport and wanted to go home.”
Denver’s voice came through the phone. “Who got scared?”
“Put me on speaker,” I said.
“Drea?” Denver asked. “What’s going on?”
“Dad left Grandma at the airport.”
“No, he didn’t,” Denver said. “He said she panicked.”
“She called me sobbing from a bench with her suitcase.”
“Who got scared?”
No one spoke.
Then Mom whispered, “He told me she asked him to go without her.”
“He lied.”
Denver’s voice changed. “Wait. Dad told me not to talk about the hotel suite when we got back.”
“Why?”
“He said Grandma might get confused about the costs.”
Mom sucked in a breath. “The upgrade.”
Denver’s voice changed.
“What upgrade?” I asked.
“Our room,” Mom said. “He said he handled it. I thought he used points.”
“No,” I said. “Grandma used savings.”
Denver swore under his breath.
“Drea, what do we do?” Mom asked.
