Twelve Months Later, Ethan Came Back With a Sleeping Newborn and a Broken Suitcase

David tapped his knuckles twice on the counter before he said good morning.

“I need the balance on Ethan’s college fund,” I said.

“The one we opened in 2019.”

He typed with two fingers.

Then his hands came up off the keyboard and stayed in the air a second.

“Let me check something in the back.”

He didn’t go to the back.

He cleared his throat, opened a drawer, closed it, and set both palms flat on the counter.