At the very least there was the possibility to change the subject. Tim knew he couldn’t ask Irish to do this now. Even if she could talk to Heherson about it, it wouldn’t be fair to her and who knew how long it would take Heherson to get beyond the whole “take me back” routine he’d likely start up the moment Irish arrived. Very quickly, Tim checked his phone to see if he had somehow missed a call. Gotten a message. Anything. But no, his father had not responded in any form.

Time to bite the bullet. “Speaking of the dead, have you noticed outside? The zombie apocalypse is starting.”

Heherson was still smiling, though his cheeks flushed slightly. “Yeah, I’d noticed. I was actually going to ask you about that, since you showed up and all.”

Tim wasn’t going to take that. “Why do you look embarrassed.”

“Well…” Heherson shifted uncomfortably, his smile still there despite it clearly resonating his discomfort rather than any other emotion. “Because it had been on my mind for the last couple weeks, you know? Something that would impress Irish.”

“You know she’s had some big meetings coming up, right? It wouldn’t matter whether it impressed her or not, she would still be too upset over how it messed up her work to think well of it.”

“I know! And I certainly thought of that after, but…”

Tim put up a hand. “After what? Start at the beginning, Heherson. Did you or did you not actually take the idea on your mind and put it in reality?”