Laura nodded, then noticed something else sticking out from under the plan. It was a printout from a website, and as she pulled it out, she read the header, Cornell Graduate Program in Public Garden Leadership, and turned to look at Bob. “Oh, is this the grad school thing you were talking about yesterday?”

He nodded, and reached for the paper. “Yeah . . .” He tailed off.

Laura frowned at him. “When do you need to apply?”

Bob turned away. “I don’t think I’m going to. It’s a lot of work.”

“The program?”

He shook his head. “No, the application. The program is amazing.”

“What is it about?” asked Laura. “I mean, what is public garden leadership?”

Bob dropped the papers onto the table, next to his computer. “It’s what it sounds like. It’s for people who want to run parks or botanical gardens, things like that.”

Laura picked up the papers again and sat back down on the sofa. Bob seemed vaguely uncomfortable talking about this and she wanted to know why. “And that’s what you want to do?”

Bob was silent, then took his spot at the far end of the sofa. “It’s not very interesting.”

Laura shook her head. “I think it is, tell me about it.” When he paused, she added, “Bob, anything’s interesting when it’s explained by someone who cares about it. I know absolutely nothing about public garden leadership, but I honestly want to hear, so spill it.” He still looked uncertain, so she leaned back and folded her feet up under her. “There isn’t another game on, and I have no plans, so there’s no point trying to avoid it.”