Supposed to be.
For weeks, he had told me money was tight.
He questioned groceries. He pushed back on shoes for the kids. He acted irritated when my parents asked us to help with the sweet-corn harvest instead of paying extra people to cover the work.
And then he left for vacation.
With them.
Before driving away, he had laughed and told me, “A little hard work will be good for you.”
I remembered standing there while the kids waited for me to tell them what row we were starting in.
I remembered deciding not to argue.
That had surprised him.
He was used to arguments because arguments gave him something to fight against. If I got angry about the trip, he could call me jealous. If I complained about being left with the kids, he could say I was trying to ruin his time with his family. If I brought up money, he could remind me that we both needed to make sacrifices.
