They’re replacing the roof and buying new furniture for the study room.”

Brenda sat frozen on her stool, her hand hovering an inch above the counter.

“Why are you giving this to me?” she asked.

“Because you handed me a two-dollar ticket on a Tuesday morning when I had seventy-four dollars in my checking account and nowhere to go,” I said.

She picked up the envelope, took out the bank draft, and read the bold black print across the top line twice.

“You were the one who won it,” she whispered.