“I’d rather be doing this,” he said.

“And your day job?” I said. “You’re still dealing, right?”

“I asked for some time off.”

“Vinnie, you don’t have to do this.”

“I needed a break anyway, Alex. Okay? Don’t worry about it. Just help me peel these things.”

“Those are already peeled, Vinnie.”

“By what, a machine? Here, let me show you the right way to do it.”

Somehow, I managed not to kill him that day. When we got to work, we found a good rhythm and added three more rows to the walls. We didn’t talk much about anything except what log came next, and where it should go. There was not a word said about what had happened between us.

When we had run out of daylight, I invited him to have dinner at the Glasgow again. He seemed to hesitate for a second before saying yes. “If you’ve got a hot date or something, just tell me,” I said. “I won’t be offended.”

“I’ve been over on the rez a lot lately,” he said. “They can do without me for one night.”

There was a whole story behind that one-Vinnie moving off the Bay Mills Reservation and buying his own land. I knew it didn’t sit well with the rest of his family, even though he made a point of spending most of his free time there.

“Come on,” I said, “I’ll buy you a steak.”

Jackie did a double take when we walked into the Glasgow together. “Well, look at this,” he said.

“Two steaks,” I said. “Medium rare. You know the rest.”

“Good evening to you, too,” he said. “I’m just fine, thanks for asking.” If he was genuinely mad at me, it didn’t stop him from opening a cold Canadian and sliding it my way.

“It’s good to see you,” Vinnie said. “It’s been a while.”

“Don’t tell me,” Jackie said. “You’re showing Alex how to build his cabin. Am I right?”