Noah watched them.
A future problem.
Ordinary and precious.
“What does she think of leaving?” he asked.
“Excited,” Caleb said. “Terrified.”
“Both can happen.”
Caleb met his gaze.
“Yes.”
The sentence carried more than college.
Our food arrived.
Noah had ordered a salmon sandwich and fries. He ate slowly, listening more than speaking.
The game on the televisions began. Owen and Noah disagreed immediately over a call neither fully understood.
Normalcy settled over the table.
Not perfect normalcy.
Noah’s pole leaned beside him. His medication alarm sounded discreetly. He covered one ear when the main room erupted after a home run.
But he laughed.
He teased Owen.
He asked Talia about the food stall and offered to repair the faulty shore-power connection on her trailer if she brought noodles.
“Discounted labor for noodles?” I asked.
“Barter economy.”
“You recently received a settlement.”
“Still value noodles.”
Talia pointed at him.
“Deal.”
I watched him smile.
The article had not stolen this.
Fear had come with us, perhaps. It had not been given a chair.
Caleb went to order another round.
I followed.
At the bar, he looked toward our table.
