Then I went to see my mother-in-law.
Ada Haller was eighty-four and had lived with Dwayne and his wife Marlene in a split-level in Cody since 2019. She’d had a stroke the year before, a small one, and walked with a quad cane. She was in the front room when I came in, watching a game show with the sound off.
“Karen,” she said. “Sit down. You’ve lost weight.”
“I’m all right, Ada.”
“You’re not. But you’re a Haller, so you’ll say you are.” She patted the arm of her chair. “I hear Dwayne caused trouble.”I stared at her. “Who told you?”
“Marlene. She’s been stewing for two weeks. He’s been in a state.” Ada folded her hands in her lap. “I didn’t raise him to do that, Karen. I want you to know. Whatever he’s told you, I didn’t.”
