“Take it.”
Evan did.
Leonard looked at the twelve certificates.
“Leave me one copy number?”
Evan wrote down the serial instead.
Leonard nodded.
“Better.”
Evan closed the folder.
“What would you do?”
Leonard’s expression hardened.
“I wouldn’t do only one thing.”
That sentence followed Evan home.
Sophie had pasta on the stove when he walked in.
She looked at the clock.
“You’re early.”
“Yes.”
“That good early or bad early?”
Evan hung his coat.
“Unclear.”
She watched him put a manila folder on the table.
“Very bad early.”
Evan smiled faintly.
“Dinner first.”
They ate.
Sophie told him about a chemistry quiz.
One answer had been marked wrong even though she believed the teacher’s own key contradicted the textbook.
“What did you do?” Evan asked.
“I showed her the page.”
“And?”
“She said she’d check.”
“Good.”
Sophie pointed her fork at him.
“You’re saying that like there’s some larger lesson.”
“There isn’t.”
“You always have a larger lesson.”
“Not tonight.”
She watched him.
“Are we okay?”
The question landed harder than Grant’s laughter had.
Evan set down his fork.
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Money okay?”
He refused to lie to her.
“My pay came through in a way that may not be valid.”