Signed and returned by three o’clock today.

Nine thousand six hundred and forty dollars before taxes.

Rose-colored bar-napkin math: that covered the tuition and the mortgage both, with room left over for groceries.

Which gave me two hours and one minute.

There was an attachment.

One file, two pages, and its icon sat there looking completely ordinary.

I found the outlet under the bench and plugged the laptop in, and the battery stopped complaining.

Page one was what you’d expect.