The room quieted when he cleared his throat.

“I build cabinets,” he began.

“That means I’ve spent a good part of my life making sure things don’t fall apart when people lean on them.”

A few guests laughed.

Frank looked at Marcus and then at me.

“When my son first brought Clara home, she noticed a loose step on our porch.

Most guests step over a thing like that and don’t mention it.

Clara came back the next weekend with a bag of screws and said she’d help me fix it.