Tiffany gave a quick laugh.
“Of course it is. She’s in your English class.”
But June didn’t smile.
She stood so abruptly that the paperback resting on her lap fell to the carpet.
There was something deeply uncomfortable about her expression.
While Maya had been greeting me, I’d discreetly taken out my phone and recorded a short portion of the scene.
I stopped the video.
Forty-seven seconds.
That was all.
But suddenly, I suspected those forty-seven seconds might matter much more than I could have imagined.
I turned back to my daughter.
“Go wash up, sweetheart. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She looked at the bakery box.
“Cinnamon rolls?”
“Your favorites.”
For a moment, she looked like the excited little girl I remembered.
Then she glanced toward the unfinished floor.
“But Dad, I still have to do the rest.”
I felt something tighten in my chest.
“The floor can
