The morning the inspector arrived, the sky was the precise color of a promise—washed blue, a thin heat already pressing the air. We’d prepped like people who know how quickly small oversights become big problems: check the anchors, tighten the braces, make sure the ledger matched the work. Mark moved through the site with a clipboard and a calm like a man who had learned to corral his anxieties into a to-do list. I liked watching him in that mode; it reminded me why I’d said yes.
Jonah was the one who met the inspector at the gate, hat in hand and a confidence that had grown from fetching tools to solving problems. The kid’s jaw line had hardened the past months into someone who could be trusted with responsibility. Mark had been wary of handing him more, but seeing him call the crew, org
