Page 104 of Never Alone
"He told me that, too."
Keith tapped the wall above the doorway. Tilted his head. Listened to the sound. Nodded once.
"He did good work in here," Keith said. "The cabinets line up. The counters are level. He didn't cut a corner I can find."
"You looked?"
"I looked."
He raised the beer at me, an inch, the smallest version of a toast, and then he carried it out to the patio without saying anything else. From the kitchen window, I watched him cross the yard to where Cole was at the grill. He stopped a few feet away. Cole looked up. Keith raised the beer at him. Cole raised his back.
Two men who had been in the project from the plans up.
That was all.
Quinn pulled into the driveway at twelve-thirty with someone in the passenger seat I'd never seen.
I was on the porch when she came up the front walk. She was carrying a bottle of wine in one hand and dragging a tall man behind her with the other. He was thin, smiling, in a button-down that had been ironed by someone who wanted him to look ironed.
"Tessa! Hi!" Quinn hugged me with the wine still in her hand. "This is Will. Will, Tessa."
"Hi." Will put out a hand. I took it. "Quinn talks about you."
"Quinn talks about everybody."
"Yeah, fair."
Quinn was already through the door, calling for Cole. Will followed her in. I followed them.
Cole was in the kitchen, getting another beer out of the cooler. He straightened when Quinn came in.
"Cole," Quinn said. "This is Will."
"Will."
"Hi." Will offered his hand. Cole took it. "Heard a lot about you."
"Yeah?"
"Quinn says you're a lieutenant now."
"That's right."
"That's great. Congratulations."
"Thanks."
The room got quiet.
I watched Cole's hand on the counter—flat, steady, the thumb tapping once and then stopping. His face had gone into the version that was technically polite. Will was still smiling.Quinn was watching her brother across the kitchen with no surprise on her face at all. She had brought Will here, knowing exactly how this was going to go.
"How long have you been at the hospital?" I asked Will because someone had to.
"Two and a half years. I'm finishing up a residency in internal medicine."
"That sounds like a lot."
"It's a lot."
