I glanced down at his thumb on my skin and noticed three yellow past-due notices stacked under his leather wallet on the counter, stamped in urgent red by the Scottsdale mortgage lender.

“I’m not worried about bills,” I said.

“Well, we are,” Renee said, her voice dropping low.

“Mortgage rates go up next month, and Daniel has two big listing loans due on the fifteenth.”

“That’s just business overhead, Renee,” Daniel said hastily, turning his back to the counter to hide the mail pile from me.

“Mom doesn’t need to hear about business overhead.”

He filled his glass right to the top, but his hand trembled just enough that three dark drops splashed onto the white stone.