{"id":13556,"date":"2026-09-18T21:13:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13556"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:13:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:13:03","slug":"part-22-my-first-trip-chosen-entirely-for-myself-gave-daniel-a-crisis-i-refused-to-solve-and-a-chance-to-finally-solve-it-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13556","title":{"rendered":"PART 22 \u2013 My First Trip Chosen Entirely for Myself Gave Daniel a Crisis I Refused to Solve and a Chance to Finally Solve It Himself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel did not like Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>Not the country.<\/p>\n<p>My going there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re leaving for twelve days?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho\u2019s going?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCarol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat does not reassure me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe once got lost in a casino parking garage for ninety minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat casino was badly designed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt had color-coded elevators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe rejects authoritarian signage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n<p>We were standing in my kitchen while I packed snacks for Lily and Ethan, who were pretending not to listen from the dining room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom, after everything that happened\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>He stopped himself.<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter everything that happened, what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you\u2019re going anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked irritated.<\/p>\n<p>Then embarrassed by his irritation.<\/p>\n<p>Also good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if something happens?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething always might.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve spent too much time with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lily called from the dining room, \u201cGrandma has security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel glared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not helping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m fifteen. Helping is optional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan added, \u201cCan you bring me a sword?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause international travel does not improve your judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked wounded.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel leaned against the counter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying not to be controlling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re doing badly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then he laughed.<\/p>\n<p>That softened everything.<\/p>\n<p>The trip represented more than travel.<\/p>\n<p>We both knew it.<\/p>\n<p>For years, my movements had existed inside family logistics.<\/p>\n<p>If I left town, somebody needed arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>If I stayed, somebody used the availability.<\/p>\n<p>Now I was going simply because I wanted to see where my grandmother had been born.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had to adjust to having a mother with her own calendar.<\/p>\n<p>I had to adjust to not apologizing for it.<\/p>\n<p>Our progress remained uneven.<\/p>\n<p>Two days before departure, Daniel called.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you talk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m packing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His house.<\/p>\n<p>The sale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOffer came in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLower than we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much lower?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He told me.<\/p>\n<p>Not disastrous.<\/p>\n<p>Enough to hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does your adviser say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCounter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo counter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey came up a little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>He wanted me to remove uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>Pay the difference.<\/p>\n<p>Create a backup.<\/p>\n<p>Make the decision easy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we accept, we\u2019re taking a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe put a lot into that house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of it was money you helped with years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had given them ten thousand toward closing costs when they bought it.<\/p>\n<p>Before the lottery.<\/p>\n<p>Back when ten thousand felt enormous.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Silence had become one of my better parenting tools forty-seven years late.<\/p>\n<p>Finally:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019m asking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, you do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess I want to know if you think we should sell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sounded surprised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, I will not decide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTalk to Renee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTalk to your adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen choose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if we choose wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question was so human I softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou might.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are allowed to make a financially imperfect choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s easy for you to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words came sharper than expected.<\/p>\n<p>He heard it.<\/p>\n<p>We both knew what he meant.<\/p>\n<p>I had eighty-nine million dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Mistakes would not threaten my housing.<\/p>\n<p>My retirement.<\/p>\n<p>My children\u2019s college.<\/p>\n<p>His frustration was not entirely unreasonable.<\/p>\n<p>I took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy margin for error is bigger now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that does not mean I should use my margin to erase every difficult decision you face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou hate it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can live with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He laughed reluctantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo can I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next day they accepted the offer.<\/p>\n<p>I learned from Renee.<\/p>\n<p>Not Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s sulking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gets that from Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he gets it from you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFalse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Then her voice softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think selling is right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No question attached.<\/p>\n<p>No request.<\/p>\n<p>Statement.<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I left for Scotland the next morning.<\/p>\n<p>Carol arrived at the airport with a suitcase large enough to relocate permanently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is in there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOptions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor an invasion?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou packed thirteen pairs of shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou counted?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The flight was exhausting.<\/p>\n<p>The airport coffee was terrible.<\/p>\n<p>Carol complained about every connection and then slept through turbulence severe enough to make me reconsider several life choices.<\/p>\n<p>When we finally stepped outside in Inverness, the air was cold enough to sting my lungs.<\/p>\n<p>Wet stone.<\/p>\n<p>Diesel.<\/p>\n<p>Wind.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing like Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>I loved it immediately.<\/p>\n<p>We spent the first two days walking slowly.<\/p>\n<p>Not touring efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>That would have ruined it.<\/p>\n<p>I watched people carry groceries.<\/p>\n<p>Sat beside the river.<\/p>\n<p>Bought postcards I might never send.<\/p>\n<p>Ate soup in a tiny caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Carol purchased a plaid hat so ugly even the shopkeeper looked doubtful.<\/p>\n<p>On the third day, we rented a car and drove toward the village where our grandmother had been born.<\/p>\n<p>Carol refused to drive on the left.<\/p>\n<p>So did I.<\/p>\n<p>We hired a driver.<\/p>\n<p>We were wealthy enough to avoid certain forms of personal growth.<\/p>\n<p>The village was smaller than family stories had made it.<\/p>\n<p>A stone church.<\/p>\n<p>A few cottages.<\/p>\n<p>A narrow road.<\/p>\n<p>Fields moving under wind.<\/p>\n<p>No dramatic revelation waited there.<\/p>\n<p>No hidden relative.<\/p>\n<p>No ancestral estate.<\/p>\n<p>Just a place.<\/p>\n<p>That made it better.<\/p>\n<p>Our grandmother had not emerged from legend.<\/p>\n<p>She had come from wet fields and practical people.<\/p>\n<p>At the cemetery, we found names we recognized.<\/p>\n<p>Not hers.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier generations.<\/p>\n<p>Carol touched one weathered stone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think Grandma stood here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe left all this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carol laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat an insane decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe somebody told her that too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We stood quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Then my phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>For one second, irritation rose.<\/p>\n<p>I had told everyone emergencies only.<\/p>\n<p>Then fear followed.<\/p>\n<p>I answered immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are you calling?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause we got the inspection report.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>The buyer had found several issues.<\/p>\n<p>Roof repair.<\/p>\n<p>A plumbing leak.<\/p>\n<p>Electrical updates.<\/p>\n<p>They wanted a credit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He told me.<\/p>\n<p>More than he liked.<\/p>\n<p>Less than catastrophic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why are you calling me from another continent?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Carol was listening openly.<\/p>\n<p>No shame.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel said, \u201cBecause I want to ask you to cover it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There.<\/p>\n<p>Clean.<\/p>\n<p>Direct.<\/p>\n<p>Better than circling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He repeated the number.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy should I?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He became quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreferably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I don\u2019t want to lose more money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know you could do it without noticing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also true.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that isn\u2019t a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to figure out whether asking is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That surprised him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould saying yes be wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot necessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked across the cemetery.<\/p>\n<p>Old stone.<\/p>\n<p>Names softened by weather.<\/p>\n<p>Generations of people who had made decisions without eighty-nine million dollars waiting behind them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would you do if I had never won?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel answered immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019d negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if they held firm?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably accept the credit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you afford it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould the sale still improve your situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen there\u2019s your answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew you\u2019d say that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy call?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause part of me wanted you not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart of you wanted rescue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did I, many times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrandpa?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did not always rescue me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you hate him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTemporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cActually?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cActually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen handle your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before hanging up, he said, \u201cI\u2019m glad you went.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoodbye, Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBring me something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo sword.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou all sound alike when demanding gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hung up.<\/p>\n<p>Carol stared at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t give him money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>She knew me too well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n<p>Not because he needed it.<\/p>\n<p>Because helping would have made me feel useful.<\/p>\n<p>Needed.<\/p>\n<p>Central.<\/p>\n<p>Old habits do not disappear because you identify them.<\/p>\n<p>They simply become easier to catch.<\/p>\n<p>We returned to the village caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>I ordered tea.<\/p>\n<p>Carol ordered cake.<\/p>\n<p>Then another slice \u201cfor cultural research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That night, I wrote in a notebook for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Not gratitude exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Not finances.<\/p>\n<p>Just one sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Today Daniel asked for help and I gave him confidence instead of money.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at it.<\/p>\n<p>Too sentimental.<\/p>\n<p>I crossed it out.<\/p>\n<p>Then wrote:<\/p>\n<p>Daniel handled his own problem.<\/p>\n<p>Better.<\/p>\n<p>The trip continued.<\/p>\n<p>Lochs.<\/p>\n<p>Gardens.<\/p>\n<p>A ruined castle where Carol nearly fell into mud and blamed medieval engineering.<\/p>\n<p>A small bookstore.<\/p>\n<p>A ferry.<\/p>\n<p>Rain every time we forgot umbrellas.<\/p>\n<p>I painted badly in hotel rooms.<\/p>\n<p>Watercolors of hills.<\/p>\n<p>Windows.<\/p>\n<p>Carol\u2019s ugly hat.<\/p>\n<p>On the tenth day, Richard called.<\/p>\n<p>He had promised not to.<\/p>\n<p>Which meant it mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything alright?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fraud recovery program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked out the hotel window.<\/p>\n<p>Rain moved sideways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe board approved a pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many people?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree to start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnonymous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCounseling partnership too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd before you ask, no, you may not expand it from Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know me too well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why I charge what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then he said, \u201cVictor\u2019s case is moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My body tensed automatically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo I need to come home?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen tell me when I get back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I surprised myself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor no longer dictated my calendar.<\/p>\n<p>Richard understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnjoy the rain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate the rain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sound happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward Carol, asleep in a chair with a paperback across her face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word came easily.<\/p>\n<p>Not I think.<\/p>\n<p>Not maybe.<\/p>\n<p>I am.<\/p>\n<p>On our final evening, Carol and I sat near the river.<\/p>\n<p>She wore the ugly hat.<\/p>\n<p>I had given up protesting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould Harold have liked this?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould he have come?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou miss him more here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked surprised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLess?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The truth arrived slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI miss him the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grief had stopped changing volume.<\/p>\n<p>What changed was how much life existed around it.<\/p>\n<p>For a long time, grief had filled almost everything.<\/p>\n<p>Now it had company.<\/p>\n<p>Family.<\/p>\n<p>House.<\/p>\n<p>Greenhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Travel.<\/p>\n<p>Bad painting.<\/p>\n<p>New friendships.<\/p>\n<p>Annoying lawyers.<\/p>\n<p>Possibility.<\/p>\n<p>Harold had not become smaller.<\/p>\n<p>My life had become larger again.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the river.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s what he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carol leaned against me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next morning, before leaving, I bought one unnecessary thing.<\/p>\n<p>A handwoven wool blanket in colors that reminded me of the hills after rain.<\/p>\n<p>It cost far too much.<\/p>\n<p>I bought it without apologizing.<\/p>\n<p>When I returned to Arizona, I placed it across the porch swing.<\/p>\n<p>George examined it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExpensive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorth it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No justification.<\/p>\n<p>No explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Just yes.<\/p>\n<p>I was getting better at that word too.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13563\">Click here to continue reading: PART 23: The Final Court Hearing Closed Victor\u2019s Long Campaign, While Daniel Gave Me the One Thing My Fortune Could Never Purchase<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel did not like Scotland. Not the country. My going there. \u201cYou\u2019re leaving for twelve days?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s going?\u201d \u201cCarol.\u201d \u201cThat does not reassure me.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cShe once got lost &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13591,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13556\/revisions\/13591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}