Still cheap.
Payroll had already deposited normally.
No envelopes.
No certificates.
Andrea walked onto the floor carrying two coffees.
She placed one beside Evan.
“Anniversary.”
He looked up.
“Of what?”
“The day you ruined everybody’s Christmas.”
He almost smiled.
“I left early.”
“Exactly. Terrible teamwork.”
She leaned against the bench.
“The board asked whether you’d attend lunch.”
“Why?”
“They want to recognize the compliance redesign.”
“No.”
“I told them you’d say that.”
“Then why ask?”
“I’m required to create a record.”
Evan looked at her.
She grinned.
He returned to the sensor.
“This fixture is drifting.”
“How much?”
“Point two.”
“System says?”
“Fine.”
Andrea looked at him.
“What do you say?”
“Not fine.”
She nodded toward the line.
“Then stop it.”
Evan pressed the hold.
Production paused.
No one laughed.
That evening, he drove home.
The Chevrolet still groaned slightly on Shiloh Road, though a repair earlier that year had extended its life.
Sophie was sixteen now.
The drawing tablet from Becket covered half the kitchen table.
She had been accepted into a summer design program and pretended not to be excited because excitement made rejection more frightening.
Evan set down his keys.
Softly.
Sophie looked up.
“Normal day?”