Caroline climbed out of her driver’s door holding three blue foil gift bags against her thick winter coat.

She set the bags on the hood of her car and walked over to my back door before I had even gotten out.

“You’re seven minutes late,” Caroline said.

Her words came out quickly, ending in a sharp sigh.

“Traffic on Main Street was slow,” I said.

“Mom checked her credit union balance twice before I left the house,” Caroline said.

She lifted her right hand and inspected her fingernails in the flat gray light.