I was wiping down the counter when the doorbell rang last month. I figured it was Mr. Tillman again, same as always. Instead a younger man stood there with a toolbox and a polite smile.

He said his name was Derek and his father had retired. He was taking over the calls now. I let him in and showed him the dripping pipe under the bathroom sink. We made small talk while he worked. I mentioned how his dad never charged me a dime all these years. Derek stopped turning the wrench and looked up at me.

He asked what I meant by that. I told him about the senior courtesy. He frowned a little and said he would check the file when he got back to the shop. That was the first time I felt a small twist in my stomach.

Robert had been gone eight years by then. We had the house paid off and the kids were long out on their own. Every time something broke I would call Tillman Plumbing the way Robert always told me to do. Mr. Tillman would come, fix it, and wave off any talk of money. Fourteen years of that and I stopped asking why.

After Derek left I went back to wiping the same counter. I kept thinking about the way he had looked at me when I mentioned the bills. The next afternoon the phone rang. It was Derek. He said he had pulled our file and wondered if I could come by the shop. He sounded careful, like he was choosing his words.

I drove over after lunch. The shop was small, same place it had always been. Derek met me at the counter and slid a manila folder across to me.

He said every call since 2012 was marked paid in full. Then he pointed to a yellow note clipped to the inside cover.

I did not touch it at first. Derek said his father had left it there when he retired. He figured I should see it. I asked him to read it out loud. He shook his head and said it was meant for me.

The shop was quiet except for the sound of a radio playing somewhere in the back. I opened the folder the rest of the way. Robert’s name was right there in Mr. Tillman’s handwriting. The date at the top said 1987. I had to read the first line twice before it sank in.

Robert had fixed their roof when the business was brand new. Mr. Tillman wrote that Robert would not take a cent for it. He had just started out and money was tight. Robert told him to look after his wife instead if anything ever needed fixing. Mr. Tillman wrote that he promised Robert free plumbing for life on account of that roof.