“He gets the gift of my company,” Dan says, smiling. “He don’t do Christmas much. Thinks it’s an overrated holiday.”

He sees as Miguel reads between the lines, and he’s grateful that there’s no derision. He knows they come from different worlds in this regard, and overall, the world is structured assuming Miguel’s level and type of competence and not Dan’s.

“Thank you. If you don’t see nothing that looks evidently wrong, I’m going to start placing saw to wood.”