And if I ever start asking you to tell me immediately loudly with whatever level of bluntness is required, you know I'm capable of significant bluntness, I'm counting on it. Another pause warmer this time. Okay, she said. Okay, you'll think about it. Okay, I'm in, she said.
Both things. I'm in. He exhaled. Yeah. He could hear the smile in it.
Both things, Ethan. I'm in. The week that followed was the week Ethan Parker understood that his life had not simply taken a turn. It had arrived somewhere, not at an ending, at a beginning of the kind that only comes after you've traveled enough distance to know what you actually want and what it costs and why it's worth it. He told Tom yes on Wednesday.
He and Clare told Rhonda together on Thursday, which produced from Rhonda an expression of deep satisfaction that suggested she'd been waiting for approximately two years to hear something along these lines. Marcus heard about it through the office before either of them told him directly, which was entirely on brand, and called Ethan to say, "You owe me so much more than recognition." Lily heard about the job on Friday evening, explained in terms appropriate for a 7-year-old, who was also, as had been established, a rigorous analyst. Her primary question was whether the new job meant more T-ball games would be missed, which it would not, which she confirmed with great focus before declaring the whole arrangement acceptable. Then she said, "Is Clare going to work with you?"
"She is." Lily nodded slowly. So, you're going to see her every day? At work, yes, and also not at work. That's the plan.
Another slow nod. The 7-year-old equivalent of a board approval. Okay, she said. But she needs her own desk. People need their own desks.
That's very insightful, Lily. I know, she said, and went back to her book. A year after the night at Brew Master's Tap, Marcus organized another gathering at the same bar. He called it a celebration. The new division was up and running.
The first Denver project under its umbrella was in design phase and Hartwell had just announced the Tucson expansion. There was genuinely something to celebrate. The same group came more or less. Diane who'd been promoted. Kevin who'd bought a house in Lakewood and could not stop talking about his yard.
The project managers who were no longer interchangeable in Ethan's mind. Jake, who was meticulous about timelines, and Jason, who was meticulous about materials, and they were nothing alike, which he felt somewhat embarrassed to have missed for so long. And Marcus, who claimed the table with the authority of a man who had willed this evening into existence through sheer force of personality, and Clare. The bar was just as crowded as it had been a year ago. the same noise, the same warmth, the same quality of Friday evening energy. Ethan noticed that Diane had claimed her seat before anyone else, which was either coincidence or institutional memory.