“We’ve got everything totally under control, right?”

She picked up her coffee cup and took a long drink.

At eleven, Ethan carried a cardboard box of his old architecture textbooks down the front steps.

I followed him out to the driveway.

The spring air smelled like damp grass.

Ethan popped the trunk of his sedan and put the box in.

He shoved it up against the back seat to make space for his garment bag.

“I was hoping we could talk about the guest list for the engagement party,” I said.