“Put it back in your purse, Mom,” Nate said.

Ron came through the screen door then, his heavy work shoes thudding on the new pine porch boards we had laid and nailed down three weeks earlier.

He stood behind Judy, laid one palm on her shoulder, and looked straight down at Nate.

“Your mother is trying to make things right, Nathan,” Ron said, his deep voice booming off the freshly painted siding.

“Take the check and let’s settle this before we drive home.”