“Then use your digital scanner,” I said.

“The yellow has to match what’s on that paper.”

He fed the swatch into the scanner slot, and the machine hummed as a red light swept across the color.

“Four gallons of butter yellow,” he said, printing a sticky label.

“Will you need brushes or tape?”

“Two four-inch trim brushes and three rolls of blue painter’s tape,” I said.

While he mixed the cans, I went over to the contractor desk at the back of the lumberyard.

A carpenter in a blue work shirt was studying a floor plan spread out on a wooden table.