He handed the tool across the table, his grip steady and sure.

At ten o’clock I went into Miller’s Hardware on Main Street to pick up a box of brass hinges and a small can of dark walnut stain.

My sister Sarah stood by the front register, waiting for the clerk to cut a length off a big spool of copper wire.

When she saw me coming down the middle tool aisle, she left the counter and headed straight for the coffeepot by the door.

She poured black coffee into two little foam cups, her hand trembling just enough to spill a few dark drops onto the green countertop.