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Mrs. Adele finally broke.
“I will,” I promised. “Every single one.”
A senior outreach worker arrived soon after, along with a utility liaison. With Mrs. Adele’s permission, we learned Elias had set up autopay, but the card had expired and the emails were going to an old address.
“You’re six,” I told him. “You are not the head chef.”
Mrs. Adele smiled into her mug.
“Celia promised him free ice cream for a year,” I said. “His judgment is compromised.”
“I think Mom needs some ice cream too.”
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
“Put him on speaker,” I said gently. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
She answered.
“Aunt Adele, I saw Brooke’s post. I thought the electric was handled.”
“I was buried under blankets in my own house.”
Silence.
“I’m sorry,” Elias said. “I didn’t know.”
I set the spatula down.
“Elias, this is Carmen. Your aunt was without power for three days.”
“I missed one message,” he said stiffly.
“And an expired card. And the emails. And the fact that she is eighty-one and alone.”
He exhaled.
“I said I’m sorry.”
“I heard you. But sorry does not turn the lights back on. What about her medical insurance? Prescriptions? Property taxes? Is all of that online too?”
Another silence.
Mrs. Adele reached for my hand.
“If you want to help her,” I said, “then help. If you are too busy to check, I’ll sit with her this week and we’ll move everything into a system she can understand.”
Elias’s voice softened.
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