At five o’clock, I sat in my idling car in the far corner of the parking lot behind the Shell station.

Cold autumn rain tapped on the windshield while the heater blew warm air over my hands on the steering wheel.

I unzipped my purse on the passenger seat and took out the clear plastic sleeve holding the lottery ticket.

I held the ticket up to the glow of the dashboard clock and read the six printed numbers again.

They matched the grand prize numbers posted on the official state lottery website line for line.

Mark wasn’t in Chicago presenting corporate account reviews to regional directors.