Like a witch casting a counter spell against Ashley, Helen arrived at a perfectly inconvenient time to keep Paul from finishing. Again.

This time, in the brightness of daylight, Ashley saw the fright that immediately filled Paul's eyes. Like a child whose mother had warned not to step outside, but was caught playing outside, Paul scurried off quickly. Too quickly that Ashley had to think that the last time may not be a mere coincidence as she had thought.

“Stop talking to my son.” Helen's warning voice pulled Ashley out of her thoughts.

She peeled her eyes on Helen. “He's a grown man. He doesn't need babysitting.”

Helen scoffed. “He's...