There was a knock at her door. It was unrealistic to expect it was a huge takeout order. Possibly it was Penny. She lifted her head. “Please be the pizza delivery boy,” she called out weakly.

 “How was your day, dear?” Adam. He stood over her, smiling.

 “Oh. God.” She struggled to sit up. He was holding bags. “Oh, you brought sustenance.”

 “Knee pads,” he said, grinning like a fool. “Nice touch.”

 “What’s in the bags?” she said, frowning at his attempt at humor.

 “Food. Stuffed salmon, rice, Italian beans, bagels and muffins for morning, milk for your coffee, a couple of sandwiches for you to take to work tomorrow.”

 “Oh, you are a perfect man.”

 “You’re hungry?”

 “Starving. But these hands cannot go near food. My hands have been places...”

 “Never mind,” he said. He put his parcels on the table and went to sit on the chair facing her. “I’ve worked for Riley. A hundred and twenty teenagers every day is like a paid vacation.” He touched the hair at her temple. “I also brought wine.”

 “Can you uncork it and just pour it straight down my throat?”

 “Tougher than Burger Hell?”

 “She was right, I was worked hard.”

 “She used to say, ‘People have dirty lives and we clean them up.’ I don’t have to stay for dinner. I won’t be offended.”

 “Oh, stay,” she said. “Can I take a shower first?”

 He nodded. “I’m not staying late tonight. I promise.”

 “What if I want you to stay late?” she asked.

 “Just get your shower. I’ll set up dinner.”

 “Nothing sexier than a man who brings dinner.”

 “If you had a real kitchen, I’d cook you dinner, but...”

 “You provided. That’s everything.” She struggled off the couch but had trouble straightening. She groaned.

 “Don’t forget to take off the knee pads before you get in the shower,” he said.

 A few minutes later when she came out of the bathroom, the table had been set, the wine uncorked, the ibuprofen bottle sitting beside one plate.

 “I hope this is a casual dinner,” she said, indicating her pajamas.

 He held a chair for her. “Madam?”

 She took her seat and he poured her a small amount of wine. She sipped. “Well, your sister is amazing, Adam. Her business is impressive. Complex, well thought, practical, no detail omitted. It’s brilliant what she’s done. I have an employee manual I can barely lift, spent the day with a trainer...” She sipped again. “I had a personal trainer in New York. I was not worked nearly as hard by him.”

 Adam chuckled and served their food. “I know Makenna,” he said. “She’s a little demon, isn’t she?”

 “Depends on what you mean by demon. She’s quite the handler. Five feet of brute strength and fearsome threats. I guess Riley hired her when there were no mob bosses or biker gang enforcers available. Where’d Riley find her?”

 “I can’t remember,” he said. “She’s been around forever. She’s a fixture in the company. Riley keeps trying to move her into a management position and Makenna wants nothing to do with it. She likes her work and she’s good at it. She agreed to work as a supervisor and trainer so it would be done right.”

 “I met Nick,” she said. “He seems nice.”

 “Stay on his good side,” Adam advised. “Some of the women make the mistake of thinking they can sweet-talk him. There are two people who can sweet-talk Nick and the first is his mother.”

 “And Riley?” she asked.

 “You’ve been away from Riley too long. She doesn’t sweet-talk anyone. The other, oddly enough, is Makenna. Though she rarely tries. Makenna eats nails for breakfast. And she don’t need no steenking man.”

 “Hmm. This morning she had me instead of the nails,” she said. She sampled the salmon. “Ohhh, Adam. I think I’m getting turned on.”

 He laughed at her.

 When he was seated across from her on the green chair, she went after her dinner in earnest, trying not to gobble. “I didn’t make a single mistake,” she finally said. “I did everything right. Well, Makenna inspected my carpet tracks, my shining bathrooms, my oiled hardwood and made a few comments—nothing much. Clearly it was good enough. Better than good enough. Those women are workhorses.”

 “They’re good,” he agreed.

 “Makenna indicated I was with an exceptionally good team this week but they weren’t all this good. She also said sometimes there’s a weak link, but she didn’t say how she knew who that was. Do they tattle on each other?”

 “Sometimes, but that’s not how they do it. They measure client complaints and watch for similarities. Then Nick and Makenna get involved with the team. Often they’ll split them up and move them around. Once they figure out who’s not getting the job done, they try training, counseling, observing. They almost never have to fire someone for not working. It’s other stuff.”

 “Like what other stuff?”

 “Absenteeism, tardiness, breaking policy. The most irresistible is taking used clothing from clients. Obviously most of Riley’s employees aren’t well-off and those high-end clothes are tempting.”

 “I never found out why that’s not allowed,” she said.