“I’ll be at the shop if you need any more hardware,” Nathaniel said.

“We have everything we need, Nathaniel,” Martha said.

By one o’clock that afternoon, Nathaniel was back inside the Whitmore Construction workshop on the Strasburg road.

The wide shop floor smelled of fresh pine shavings, motor oil, and hydraulic fluid from the lift trucks parked in the bay.

Brenda stood by the main cork scheduling board near the office door, tapping her glasses against her clipboard.

She picked up a thick black marker and printed Martha Miller in dark capital letters at the top of the spring job roster.