husband has a difficult time making enough money for them to live on."
"Probably just doesn't make as much money as your sister wants to live on."
"Why are you so down on her?"
"Because she was so nasty to you. I won't allow anybody to treat you like that."
Kathryn didn't know quite why she was so angry at Ron. Maybe it was because he'd broken in on them. It was rude and he knew it. She suspected he'd done it intentionally. Maybe because she was angry at Elizabeth and was projecting that anger on Ron. Maybe she was feeling guilty - and stupid - because she suspected Ron was right, that Elizabeth was trying to make her feel guilty so she could get what she wanted.
But Kathryn didn't need Elizabeth to make her feel guilty. That was part of the reason she'd decided to open the shelter. Pressure from Elizabeth was also part of the reason her relationship with her parents was so strained. Elizabeth had forced her to make clear to her parents where her loyalties lay.
She truly did feel Elizabeth had been treated unfairly, but she resented the pressure Elizabeth kept applying every time she came to visit. And Kathryn had finally begun to accept the fact that Elizabeth only came to see her when she wanted something. That hurt, and made her want to strike out. But Ron was here, where he wasn't supposed to be, the perfect target.
"I won't allow you to talk about my sister like that," Kathryn said. "You don't know anything about her."
"I don't need a detailed life history to recognize a selfish, tyrannical woman when I see one. By giving her money, you're enabling her dysfunctional lifestyle. Let her stand on her own two feet."
"Stop it! I forbid you to talk about Elizabeth like that."
"Forbid me!" Ron looked amazed. "What makes you think you can stop me from speaking my mind?"
"You have no business giving advice. You've failed just as badly with your own daughter."
"That's beside the point."
"That is the point. You have no right to criticize her. If you can't stop, you can leave."
"This isn't like you. You're not one to deny an obvious truth. You didn't hesitate to pin my ears back when you thought I was wrong."
"This has nothing to do with being right or wrong. It has to do with the fact I have the greater resources and she has the greater needs."
"Her greater needs have nothing to do with money. If she were half the woman you are, she wouldn't dream of doing what she just did. And unless I'm badly mistaken, she keeps poisoning your mind about your parents, keeps reminding you that you owe her because they liked you better - or treated you better - than they did her."
Kathryn couldn't take any more. She marched over to the door. "You were right. I should never leave a door open when I don't want someone to come in. I'm going to close my door. I want you on the other side of it."
"Are you throwing me out?"
"I think it's rather a case of me putting you back where you belong. You had no right to listen to my conversation with my sister, and you had no right to interrupt it."
"When did a man cease to have the right to protect the woman he loves?"
His words nearly knocked Kathryn off her feet, but she managed to hold on. Men didn't mean the same thing as women when they spoke of being in love. Most of the time they meant they were in lust. That might even mean they were in temporary love - the length of time corresponding roughly to the length of time it was convenient - but they didn't mean the long-term commitment every woman meant when she said she was in love.
Kathryn knew she had been falling in love with Ron, but even she wasn't ready to use the commitment word. There were so many things they hadn't talked about, Elizabeth for one. If he loved her, he would have to accept her sister.
"You never said anything about love," she said.
"I didn't know until I heard your sister berating you. My immediate reaction was to protect you. I figure that's a really good sign I'm in love."
"More likely the universal male drive to protect. But I don't need protecting, so you don't have to feel like you're in love."
"Do you always talk like this after your sister visits you?"
"Like what?"
"Like you've suddenly lost your ability