Chapter 14 - Sarah Stops Carrying Everyone
Sarah’s marriage improved when she stopped being family interpreter.
Michael learned not to call with every discovery.
Peter learned to contact his own lawyer.
Thomas stopped sending updates unless requested.
At first silence felt unnatural.
Then peaceful.
Mark, Sarah’s husband, invited Michael for barbecue.
“You seem less angry.”
Michael laughed.
“I shoved a priest into mud.”
“Hard benchmark.”
Michael smiled.
Mark became serious.
“Sarah used to spend two days recovering every time you called.”
Michael looked down.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
Another invisible consequence.
Michael apologized to Sarah later.
She accepted.
Then told him:
“You don’t need to apologize for existing with problems.”
“But I made you manage.”
“Yes.”
Specific.
He learned.
Sarah eventually returned to St. Matthew’s for Christmas service after Thomas’s status still uncertain.
Guest priest officiated.
She sat in back.
Church was building.
Not Thomas.
Not Robert.
Not fraud.
She cried anyway.
Michael did not attend.
His relationship with church differed.
No need symmetry.
After service Sarah stood by muddy walkway.
Same puddle area had been filled with gravel.
She sent Michael photo.
Your crime scene is gone.
He replied:
Historical preservation failed.
She laughed.
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Humor arrived.
That mattered.
