“There’s still work.”
“There will be work tomorrow.”
“There’s always work tomorrow when you say it.”
“Smart observation.”
She stood anyway, slower than she had been lately. I noticed the hand she braced on the table before she straightened.
I noticed everything now.
I took the papers from her hand before she could reach for them.
“I can carry my own things.”
“I know.”
“You saying that while taking them feels dishonest.”
“Walk.”
She muttered something under her breath and came with me.
We made it halfway down the hall before she caught my arm.
“Ridge.”
I stopped.
“What?”
She waited until nobody was near us.
“You’re scaring me a little.”
That landed harder than it should’ve.
I turned fully toward her.
“I’m not trying to.”
“I know. But when you get quiet and start looking
