“Fair enough.”

At the school, Sophie met him outside in a blue ribbon and sneakers that were already scuffed.

June and May stood nearby, smiling.

Vincent looked at the auditorium doors and remembered the day a small girl had asked him for forty-five minutes.

Back then, he had believed that kindness cost him time he could better spend making money.

He knew now that the things he had failed to give—attention, honesty, care—had been the things that mattered most.

Sophie reached for his hand.