Tell me first.”

He started an explanation, then looked at me.

“All right.”

I thanked him for the supplies and repeated the request.

He could hear appreciation without treating it as permission to skip asking next time.

I could hear good intentions without letting them decide the boundary.

That was how we became close again: not by declaring Garrett responsible for every difficult thing between us, but by changing the parts we could change ourselves.

As I recovered, I began returning to purchasing consulting in manageable stages.