For years Beth had worked extra hours whenever Nora needed someone to watch Owen, and neither sister had counted the favors aloud.

Now the pressure had changed shape without becoming easier.

Nora sat down and admitted that she was afraid of losing the one chance she had to understand Elise’s life.

Beth said Nora was not responsible for repairing every mistake Henry Whitmore’s company had made.

She also said their mother would have hated seeing them turn against each other over unpaid work.

Nora called Jasmine the following morning and asked whether some tasks could be assigned to trained volunteers.

Jasmine sounded relieved and said she had been waiting for Nora to ask.

They moved two interviews and agreed that Nora would be home for dinner three nights each week.

When Nora told Owen about the arrangement, he studied her face as if he expected the promise to disappear.

She wrote the dinner nights on the refrigerator calendar and invited him to put a star beside each one they kept.

The first star went up that evening after a meal of rice, vegetables, and chicken cooked in a skillet whose handle had been loose for months.

Owen described a disagreement between two boys in his class and asked what adults did when both children insisted they were right.

Nora told him adults should listen carefully before choosing whom to believe.

She heard the echo of Elise’s struggle in her own answer, but this time she did not reach for her phone or notebook.

She listened while her son finished his story.

Chapter 9F: Curtis’s New Rules

Curtis Shaw announced a revised break policy on a Friday when the diner was crowded with office workers escaping the cold.

Employees were expected to request permission before leaving the dining room for water, and leftover food would be discarded under a manager’s supervision.

Luis asked whether the new rules appeared anywhere in the employee handbook.

Curtis said he was tired of workers treating written policies like courtroom exhibits.

Miriam looked at Nora, who continued pouring coffee without answering.

Nora had learned that a public argument with Curtis could quickly become a dispute about her attitude rather than his decisions.

That afternoon, Luis discovered that his Sunday shift had been assigned to a newer cook who needed the money just as badly.

Curtis claimed the change had nothing to do with the questions Luis had asked.

Luis photographed the schedule and saved the message in which Curtis had originally confirmed the shift.