He laid two papers flat on the dark wood between our water glasses before sitting down in the wooden chair across from me.

The first was his official pay statement from his first two weeks at the logistics warehouse, showing seventy-six hours logged at twenty-two dollars an hour.

The second was a letter on the letterhead of a licensed marriage and family counselor downtown.

“My shift runs from six in the morning to two-thirty in the afternoon,” Ethan said.

“It leaves my evenings free for therapy and time with Noah.”

“That’s the intake confirmation from Dr.