He walked right past Mark without looking up, his eyes on the dirt path under his feet.

He stopped beside Grace at the wash tub, lifted his left foot, and pointed to the clean black tread on the sole.

“Grandma,” Ben said, his voice rising clear and proud.

“Look at my new track shoes.”

Grace leaned down and touched the clean white stripe on the side of his shoe with her thumb.

“Those are fine shoes, Ben,” Grace said.

“They look like they were made for running fast at tryouts.”