He came into the studio first.
I heard the screen door and then his footsteps on the path, and then he knocked, which he never did, and I opened the door and let him in.
He looked tired. His shirt was wrinkled and his hair was flat on one side, and he had the expression he got when he had been in a meeting that had gone badly.
"Warren called my father," he said.
"I figured."
"He said you threatened to sue."
"I said I'd record the easement and file a claim."
"Same thing."
"It's not the same thing."
Daniel sat down on the edge of the desk, which made Pearl stand up and move to the windowsill, and he rubbed his face with both hands.
"Nora," he said. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what? That your family was trying to take my land? I found out the same day you did."
"You found
