"How did it go?" she asked immediately.
Daniel set his keys beside the fruit bowl. "I didn't get the interview." Her pencil stopped moving. "Because you were late?"
"I was late. The appointment was canceled."
"But you practiced."
"I did."
"And your shoes are all shiny."
He looked down at them. The rain had removed most of the shine. "They made a good effort." She did not laugh. "Why were you late?"
He considered telling her about traffic, which had certainly contributed, or the construction lane, which was undeniably real. Then he remembered that children notice when an answer is technically correct but incomplete.
"Someone needed help with a car," he said. "I stopped. It took longer than I hoped."
Lily was silent. Then she pushed a sheet of paper toward him, rotating it so he could see the drawing. It showed a man beside a blue car and a woman near another car with its hood open. The figures were drawn in the energetic proportions of children, with oversized hands and a bright yellow sun that the actual sky had not provided. Across the top, in crooked blue letters, Lily had written, My dad helps people.
"I made that before you got home," she said. "Aunt Megan said you might need cheering up."
Daniel stared at the drawing. His sister had probably known he was disappointed before Lily did. Rachel used to say that when Daniel felt ashamed, he moved as though trying to take up less space. He realized he was standing that way now, shoulders drawn inward, voice carefully controlled.
"You drew me helping somebody?"
"You always help somebody." Lily considered the picture. "I didn't know what kind of somebody, so I made up the car."
He crouched beside her chair and felt an unexpected pressure behind his eyes. "You picked a pretty good somebody."
"Did you fix it?"
"I fixed enough of it to get her going again."
"Then she needed you." Lily leaned forward. "Maybe your interview people will understand."
Daniel wished he believed that. He kissed the top of her head and helped her close her pencil case before the school bus came. After she left, he taped the drawing inside a kitchen cabinet where he would see it each time he reached for a cup.
That evening he spread three bills on the table. The electricity reminder, a car-insurance notice, and the invoice for a dental appointment Lily had needed the previous month formed an unpleasant little triangle beside his laptop. He calculated what could be delayed without causing a larger problem. There was no good answer, only different versions of damage.