“Did he take her for the shoes?” Ben asked from his own kitchen across town, his TV murmuring low in the background.

“No,” I said, leaning my shoulder against the upper cabinet.

“He never texted.

He never came.”

“The man is impressively consistent,” Ben said, his voice dry and flat.

“Did she ask you why he didn’t call?”

“She didn’t say a thing,” I said.

“She made a couple of excuses for him, rinsed her bowl and went to her room.”