“It’s barely nine in the morning.”

I set my coffee cup down on the quartz table with a light, deliberate tap that carried clearly across the room.

“No,” I said, smoothing the front of my dark blue wool cardigan down with both thumbs.

“I was expecting them.”

I stood up from my wooden chair and walked past Mark before he could push himself off his stool.

His leather dress shoes squeaked against the kitchen tile as he turned to follow me, his voice sharpening into his usual corporate tone.