“If they do not pour the concrete by the middle of August, they forfeit the deposit to the next job on the list.”

I looked down at the bright red tomatoes in the basket, their skins smooth and warm.

“That sounds like a tight schedule,” I said.

“It is twenty-two thousand dollars if we lose the slot,” she said, then quickly pressed her hand to her throat as if she had revealed a family secret.

“Anyway, he really wants to make things right with you.”

She turned and walked back toward her porch, her steps quick and silent on the lawn.