I want your input on what actually works, not the philanthropic optics, the functional reality. He looked at her carefully. You're not asking because you need the cover. I'm asking because I don't want to build another thing that looks impressive and doesn't actually help anyone, she said. And you know the difference.
He was quiet for a moment. Lily school has 30 kids waiting for after school slots they can't fill because they don't have staff. He said start there then we start there. Viv said 6 months after the lobby on a Sunday morning in Marcus's kitchen which Viv had a key to now a small event that had been handled with characteristic Lily fanfare involving a gift bag and a ribbon. Lily was trying to make pancakes.
She had flour on her face, batter on the counter, and strong opinions about the correct flip technique. Marcus was attempting to supervise without taking over, which was a balance he described to Viv once as the hardest part of parenting. Viv was pouring coffee watching them and felt something settle in her chest that she didn't immediately have a word for. Not happiness exactly. Happiness was too surface level, something deeper.
The particular rightness of being in the correct place. Viv, Lily said without turning from the stove. Dad says you're better at flipping than he is. He said that he said you have good technique. When did he last week?
He talks about you when you're not here. Lily glanced over her shoulder with a look that was so precisely her father's expression that Viv almost laughed. Will you show me? Viv set down her coffee and moved to the stove. She guided Lily's hands, small fingers wrapped over the spatula, and talked her through the timing, the angle, the confidence of the motion.
The pancake flipped clean. Lily shrieked with delight that bounced off every wall in the kitchen. Marcus caught Viv's eye over Lily's head. His expression was something she'd been learning to read, the specific look that meant he was fully, quietly present in a moment that mattered to him. She looked away before it could undo her entirely.
Later afternoon, Lily inside reading Marcus and Viv on the back steps. The backyard quiet and still and catching the late light. Fan resigned, Viv said. Official announcement next week. You okay about it?
He was a slow leak in a tire I should have changed a year ago. She leaned her shoulder against his. I'm fine. And the foundation sites. Lily's school breaks ground in April, the other two by summer.
She paused. We had families come to the planning session last week. One woman, single mom, three kids, two jobs. She said the afterchool program meant she might be able to take a certification course, that she's been trying to figure out how to fit in for 2 years. Viv was quiet for a moment.