Like he knew anything about the school bureaucracy.

“I don’t think so. Education budgets are getting trimmed right and left.”

Bobby Joe shook his head. “Negative thinking won’t get you anywhere.”

“That’s practical. Not negative.” She was wary about where this conversation was going. Lately, he latched on to improbable ideas and let go of them in the next minute, during mood swings that rarely made sense. Humoring him only seemed easy. They’d been on the verge of quarreling more than once, but Mary Beth had stopped herself in time.

“Well, I had a key made for you,” he said, taking various items out of his pockets and setting them on the fold-out section of the ladder. Business cards. A pen. His smartphone. “Shoot. Maybe I left it downstairs.”

A distant knock reached them.

“Now, who could that be?” Bobby Joe asked her.

Mary Beth figured it wasn’t the brunette. “I heard Mr. Corlear on the roof and then on the outside ladder. Must be him.”

Bobby Joe nodded. “Of course. He did ask if I could give him a check.”

“Where is it?”

“I didn’t make it out yet. Besides, there’s a couple of things I wanted to discuss with him,” Bobby Joe said. He went out to the staircase, leaving her there.

Mary Beth was in no great hurry to join him. She looked around the sunny room, and then up when a breeze whispered through the skylight. She ought to close it.

She pushed the ladder directly underneath and lifted the heavy glass by the metal frame, releasing the latch that also served to prop it open. The skylight settled into place and she stepped down, collecting Bobby Joe’s personal items.

His smartphone buzzed in her hand. She didn’t look at the screen and she wasn’t going to answer it. She wasn’t even tempted to snoop. What would she find out that she didn’t already know? It was a sure thing that Luellen had called, probably several times. And maybe others. The hell with it. She was so drained she didn’t have the energy to be angry. Jealousy hardly seemed justified, under the circumstances.

Mary Beth left the room and went downstairs.

“There you go, Pete.” Bobby Joe clapped Mr. Corlear on the back. “Thanks so much for the quick fix on the sign.” He handed over the signed check just as she reached his side.