He rubbed his thumb over his gold wedding ring twice, moving his hand in a tight, practiced circle.

“I thought I heard a woman’s voice on the line,” I said.

“Evelyn calls at all hours when a land closing gets this close,” he said, standing up from the leather cushions.

“In fact, she’s coming over with the revised site blueprints in twenty minutes so we can double-check the boundary figures.”

He picked up his small leather journal from the glass coffee table and slipped it inside his brown leather briefcase, snapping the heavy brass latch shut.

“I’ll be in the study until she gets here,” he added, lifting the briefcase by its stiff handle.