Ellen felt the sting. She had always suspected Laura wanted control, but this was different. This was deliberate exclusion.

“Mom,” Mark said finally, “Laura thought it would be… simpler if it were just her parents and her sister. She didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”

Ellen’s throat tightened. “Simpler? You mean excluding me, your mother, after I spent thousands of dollars, is simpler?”

Mark didn’t answer.

He sounded small, caught between loyalty to his wife and the shame of hurting his mother.