Julian smoothed the foundation’s quarterly ledger sheet flat on the granite kitchen island.

I set a mug of decaf coffee beside his left hand.

“Why did the October utility column for the Crest property go up by fifty-two dollars?” I asked.

“The city raised the water rates,” Julian said.

Julian picked up his gold pen.

“The vendor totals on page four don’t match the disbursement schedule,” I said.

“There’s a gap of four thousand six hundred dollars from the twelfth of the month.”

Julian twisted the heavy silver band of his watch around his wrist.

“I’ve got it handled, Vivian.”

“I’m the contract auditor for the trust,” I said.

“It’ll take me twenty minutes to run a reconciliation on the main desktop.

I just need to pull the bank routing numbers for the twelfth.”

He reached for his leather briefcase.

The brass latch clicked shut.

He spun the three combination dials out of line.

“The board meets at nine,” Julian said.

“You have a prenatal appointment at two.

Focus on the clinic.”