She didn’t wait for him to answer and let the doors close between them.

At one o’clock, Nathaniel met Martha in the back booth of the Route 30 Diner.

Daisy sat on the red vinyl seat beside her mother, kicking her heels softly against the chrome table leg while she drew yellow squares on a paper placemat.

Evelyn Vance set two fresh mugs of black coffee on the table and went back to the register without a word.

Nathaniel laid the photocopy of the signed wage waiver on the Formica between their plates.