Lauren headed out at one o’clock, promising to call me after her afternoon shift at the art gallery.

I carried the cashier’s check into my home office and turned on the brass desk lamp.

The autumn sun coming through the window had turned into a cold gray glare.

I laid the check flat on my green blotter right next to Keith’s handwriting analysis.

After paying for Keith’s expert analysis, I had fourteen hundred eighty dollars in my savings account.

Twelve thousand dollars in cleared funds would pay Evelyn’s retainer and cover our living costs for five whole months.