I waited. He sniffed. “You don’t think toward the end of your life that you might not have enough money when all you’ve ever done is what’s been asked of you.”

I squeezed his shoulder. “We ask a lot of people. Then we expect them to do more with less.”

He squinted, handing me the leftovers and shaking out a cigarette. “Edna gets a little embarrassed when I bring her food, but she doesn’t have to be. What are we gonna do, let her fucking starve?”

I shifted the food as he smoked, the smell of tobacco and worn leather taking me back to sitting on his stoop in the summer with Rowan. “Do you remember when I was in fifth grade and Mom was out of work for, like, six months?”

He nodded. “Yeah, she had some shit boss at the time.”

I pressed my lips together. “You and Alice brought us food all the time. ’Cause we needed it. Having extra made it so that we didn’t have to worry.”

He grinned. “When did you get to be such a clever smart-ass?”

“Takes one,” I said, matching his expression.

He chuckled, stubbing out his cigarette and taking back the leftovers. “If Rowan has a box I can have, weekly, I’ll take it. But I don’t need all of it, so I’ll share with a few folks on Tenth Street who might want some.”

Relief washed over me. “I think that sounds good.”

Rowan poked his head out the front door, and Eddie raised a hand in greeting. “I delivered him to your doorstep,” he said, back to speaking English.

I jammed my hands into my pockets and spun on my heels, walking toward Rowan. “Say hi to Edna for me.”

“Yeah sure,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow anyway. I know we’re gonna find a way to get that park back.”

I went still. “So you’re optimistic, now?”

“Tabitha convinced me,” he said. “She’s real smart about these things.”

A host of complicated emotions jammed at the back of my throat, making it hard to swallow. The way she’d said Absolutely in her usual singsong voice as I was leaving, but her eyes shone with tears. And I’d walked out like an asshole.

“She’s very smart,” I said. “The rest of us are just trying to keep up.”

Eddie left, and Rowan held the door open to the rec center for me. His smile was as cocky as ever. But I didn’t miss the concern in his eyes.

“You wanted me delivered here?” I asked.

He closed the door behind us, and we walked down the hall toward his office. “I did. I heard some rumblings about a fancy developer and Tabitha leaving tomorrow and one sighting of Dean Knox-Morelli at Al’s coffee shop, sittin’ with two dudes in suits.”