Cord had watched Rafe Santos for twelve years and never seen him like this.
It wasn't dramatic. That was the thing. Rafe didn't change the way people changed in movies -- he didn't smile more or soften his edges or suddenly become someone else. He was still the same man who ran church with a level head and made the hard calls and put the club first in everything that could be measured.
But he called his mother. Cord knew because Rafe mentioned it in passing, the way you mention things you don't realize are significant -- she's doing alright, the new place in Florida suits her. He hadn't called his mother in four years that Cord knew of.
He fixed the leak in the garage roof that had been there for two winters because, he said, it was getting cold and it needed doing. He'd said the same t
