Missy, alone in the living room, talking to a houseplant.

“So am I. He’s in Abilene. We don’t talk.”

“Well, that was satisfying.”

“What?”

(ignoring her) “The problem is, the meeting is at the public library’s basement, which has a radon level of 2.1 picocuries per liter — acceptable, but suboptimal. I’ll need a chaperone.”