“What?”

“You’re talking like the money is already here.”

He looked up then.

His face didn’t change, but he closed the magazine.

“A man can dream, Patty.”

I put the chicken in the pan, and the oil hissed.

For the rest of the meal he talked about the marina in Sandusky and how he had always wanted to see the islands from the water.

I ate three bites and moved the rest around my plate.