“I have a retirement plan.”
“Keep your voice down.”
I lowered it.
“I have an excellent retirement plan.”
A laugh escaped her.
Quiet.
Real.
It loosened something inside me.
Then Ellie looked down at her hands.
“I don’t want us to joke until the call ends and neither of us has said anything difficult.”
“Okay.”
“That wasn’t an accusation.”
“It was accurate.”
She looked at me again.
“I also don’t want this treated like a meeting.”
My eyes moved toward the legal pad.
Hers followed.
“Is that a list?”
“No.”
“There is a pen on top of it.”
“It’s decorative.”
“Annie.”
I shifted the water bottle.
The list became visible.
Ellie leaned toward the screen.
“Does that say, ‘Do not offer transportation’?”
“It felt important.”
“What transportation were you considering?”
“None.”
“Private plane?”
