“Eight years ago, right after the funeral, Zane paid off every cent he owed on the store.”

Bob laid his pipe on the Formica table and stared down into his coffee.

“I know he did, Sarah,” he said quietly.

“You loaned him four thousand dollars out of your savings the year before,” I said.

“He told me you’d forgiven the loan as a gift.”

“He came by the hardware store three days after we buried Janice,” Bob said.

He stopped, looking toward the window where highway traffic rolled by.