“You told me a good watch keeps time whether the weather holds or breaks,” I said.

“It still works,” Carl said.

“It does,” I said.

“Mark came by the machine shed while you were upstairs putting the kids to bed,” Carl said.

I kept my eyes on the dark outline of the grain silo across the road.

“What did he want?” I asked.

“He wanted me to talk you into sitting down in his office and going over the joint checking statements,” Carl said.

“There’s nothing left to go over,” I said.