“You look very smart,” Dave said, straightening Mac’s tie with the same careful focus he brought to chair plans and family trees. “Although I think a tie might be the wrong message today. Ties say I’m trying to look powerful. We’re trying to look honest.”
Mac looked down at him, amused despite the nerves visibly running through his whole body.
“What would you suggest instead,” Mac asked.
Dave considered this seriously, then reached up and loosened the tie slightly, just enough that it sat a little less formally.
“Better,” Dave said. “Approachable powerful. Not scary powerful.”
Cloe, watching from the kitchen doorway, felt a laugh escape her despite everything, the specific laugh that arrived when the morning was enormous and her son was being exactly himself anyway.
The apartment had
