But instead, she turned around and lectured me. "Daisy's not doing anything wrong. I can't stand the taste of that stuff anyway. Might as well trade it for a little cash."
"She's willing to stay here and keep me company. Do you have any idea how much pressure that puts on her? When my condition gets worse, I'll be depending on them to take care of me. Don't you understand that?"
"She married into this family and does the job you should be doing as my daughter. You can't even be grateful, and now you have the nerve to criticize her?"
I lay awake the entire night after hearing that, convinced I'd overstepped. Convinced I'd been too controlling and hadn't considered Daisy's situation. Convinced I'd failed as a sister-in-law.
So I gave Daisy a credit card with a three-thousand-dollar monthly limit. It wasn't much, but I thought it might at least ease some of her burden.
And now she was calling me a freeloader.
I snapped back to the present and looked at my mother before I could stop myself. "Mom, is that what you think too?"
Her eyes turned even colder. "What? Is anything Daisy said wrong?"
"Every time you come over, you eat a meal, then get up and leave. If that's not mooching, what is?"