“Is that mustard on the fence?”
“It appears committed to being mustard, Glenn.”
He walked toward the pool.
A soggy birthday hat bumped against the edge.
HAPPY 7TH, TOMMY!
Glenn picked it up. Neither of us spoke. We already knew.
“Is that mustard on the fence?”
***
Three days earlier, our company had sent us to Frankfurt for an emergency engineering meeting. Glenn and I worked in different departments, which usually meant one of us could stay home during travel.
Not that week.
Someone needed to feed Musk, so Glenn gave his sister, Marie, our spare key.
I hesitated.
Glenn gave his sister, Marie, our spare key.
Marie and I had never openly fought. We preferred a more civilized method of warfare involving smiles, casseroles, and unsolicited criticism.
She once opened my kitchen cabinets just to criticize how I stacked my pots.
Another time, she tasted my soup and asked whether I had “forgotten seasoning as a lifestyle choice.”
