"You asked."
"I rushed."
"You stayed," Claire said. "Staying is the part most people skip when they talk about talent."
Willa considered this with the seriousness she had brought to the Winslow's table. "Mom says you're working and also playing. She says both. She says I shouldn't make you into a poster."
"Your mom is right about that."
Evelyn stood a few feet off, giving them the hallway, which was a skill she had not possessed in October. She looked tired around the eyes in a way the diamonds, small again, did not hide. When Claire turned, Evelyn did not offer a speech. She offered a sentence.
"She still says 'so watch' when she is nervous. To herself. I pretended not to notice until noticing seemed less vain than pretending."
"I almost didn't play," Claire said.