“Claire,” he said.

His voice was flat, with no anger in it, only a heavy, dry irritation.

“What on earth are you doing here?”

Claire stood still, keeping her purse tucked close to her side.

“The state competition,” she said.

Daniel glanced past her shoulder toward the main lobby, then checked his heavy silver watch a second time.

“I really don’t have the bandwidth for a scene today, Claire,” he said.

“I’m not here to make a scene, Daniel.”