“You don’t have to.
I want you to know that.
What you did was already enough.”
“I’ll speak with her,” Priya said without hesitating.
“I knew what I was doing when I called you.”
“You’re not worried about Holt?”
A short pause.
“He’s not my supervisor.
And even if he were — ” Another pause.
“My grandmother went back to school at seventy-two.
She got a certificate in accounting.
My grandfather told her she was wasting her time.” Her voice was even.
“She died knowing how to do her own taxes and his.
So no.
I’m not worried about Holt.”
I sat at my kitchen table for a long time after that call.
The house was quiet.
Daniel had stayed the night on the sofa and was still asleep.
Paul had driven home with Lily at midnight, but not before Lily had made me promise to send her a list of my three favorite books.
