aul adjusted his glasses. “We can never achieve instant results in physics. There’s a certain rhythm and pathway to yield results. You can’t change that by just pausing halfway.”

Blake looked sheepish. “I’m just saying…”

They ended things on a sour note. As Paul turned around, Miranda waved at him smilingly. “It’s been some time since we last met, neighbor.”

They walked home side by side. Miranda intentionally avoided talking about what had happened ...