Their best isn't good enough, Tess thinks, but he's not wrong. She would give Arthur all the leeway in the world for treating her like a partner in this rather than a project. She snaps the book shut and puts it away, giving the floorboards a glance. They seem firm under her feet, and there's no obvious gap of a board that needs to come in and out.

"You hold me accountable, and that's the difference," she replies. Flippantly: "And they aren't fun to drink with."