Marian noticed the silence.
“I can hold this until tomorrow.”
“No,” I said. “We can talk.”
Reid folded the paper.
“Upstairs.”
“Now?”
“You’re finished for the day.”
“I can sit here.”
“Private.”
The seriousness in his voice made my chest tighten.
He saw.
“Nothing is wrong between us.”
The reassurance came immediately.
I breathed.
“Good.”
Upstairs, we sat at the kitchen table.
The paper remained between us.
Reid did not open it.
“The insurer will replace the van or issue a cash equivalent.”
“What do you want?”
“I asked first.”
“I don’t know.”
“That is an answer.”
I looked toward the harbor.
“What did I do in it?”
“Mobile electrical service. Marinas. Private docks. Emergency calls. Small boatyards that did not have their own technician.”
“Alone?”
“Usually.”
The thought of driving a vehicle loaded with equipment through rain made my hands cold.
Reid noticed.
