Sophie helped her unpack. Sophie had opinions about where the mugs should go. Daniel came by the second evening she was in the house after he'd closed the garage and picked Sophie up from her aunt's, and he stood in her kitchen and looked at it for a moment at the mugs Sophie had arranged and the small fire she'd managed in the wood stove, and the view through the window where the last light was going gold over the prize mountains. "Nice place," he said. "Good neighborhood? " she said.
"I've heard the mechanic nearby is excellent. " "I've heard he's adequate. " "I've heard he charges $60 for work that would cost three times that anywhere else. " "Which in some circles is considered excellent. " He came the rest of the way into the kitchen, and she handed him a mug, and they stood side by side at the window and watched the light change. "Sophie told me she's already picked out where she wants to build the snow fort," he said. "The flat part near the porch. " "I know. " She drew a diagram with labeled sections. "There's a note about the south wall. " Riley looked at him. "She's going to be an architect or an engineer," Daniel said.
"She's been taking apart the radio. " "Did you stop her? " "No. " A pause. "I showed her how the tuner worked. " Riley looked at the mountain. The light was almost gone now. The sky, the particular deep blue of a winter evening in high altitude, the first stars starting to appear. "I want to tell you something," she said.
"Okay. I've spent 10 years being very good at knowing what things are worth. Assets, companies, people in the transactional sense. I'm genuinely good at it. She turned to look at him, and I've never once, not in any boardroom, not in any negotiation, not in front of any number, felt as certain about anything as I have felt since that first night about you.
He was quiet for a moment. That's a high bar, he said. I'm aware. I've been thinking about it, too. He turned his mug in his hands, the same gesture she'd seen in the kitchen the night with the fire, when he told her he was watching the road, about what I want, about what Sophie needs, about what's right.
He looked at her directly, no deflection. You. The word was quiet and complete and unqualified. Me? She said.