Donald asked if I remembered Walter talking about letting him use the barn.

I said yes.”

“Would you be willing to tell that to Mara?”

“Of course.”

We met at a diner in Ellicott City.

Paige arrived with a canvas tote and the kind of tired face that comes from working double shifts.

She was a school counselor now, raising two boys with her wife.

“Why didn’t you tell me Walter was sick?” I asked before we ordered.