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Her expression shifts again. There’s pain there, but she gets it under control quickly. “He mattered to a lot of people.”

“He had that effect.”

Her hand moves toward her fork, then away. “I’m glad. But I didn’t know he talked about me.”

“He didn’t much.”

I see the flash of hurt the moment after I say it, but I don’t retract it. Lies insult the dead and the living.

Laurel gives a small nod. “No. I suppose he wouldn’t have.”

“He mentioned you were smart.”

She huffs once. “That sounds like Ben. Complimentary in the least emotionally generous way possible.”

“He also said you were terrifying with a calendar.”

A real flicker then. Pain and amusement braided together. “That sounds more accurate.”

I look at the full plate, gesturing with my eyes. “Eat.”

Her eyebrows lift. “Excuse me?”

“You look like you haven’t for a while.”

“I didn’t realize breakfast comes with a command structure.”

I smirk. “It does when Lorna’s involved.”

“You don’t know me well enough to tell me what to do.”

“No,” I agree. “But I knew Ben well enough to know he’d be pissed if I let his sister pass out from malnutrition in a café.”

Her face goes still. Was that too far? I know it is before she speaks. “Don’t use him like that.”

I sit back. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have.”

That disarms her more than arguing would've.

She looks away, out the window, where rain threads down the glass and turns the street beyond it soft around the edges.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

She swallows. “Don’t be. I’m just tired. Looking after Maggie’s daughter through all of this is… hard. But fine. I mean… I’m handling it.”

Fine, tired, handling it. The standard vocabulary of people trying desperately not to fall apart in public.

Lorna appears with more coffee, though neither of us needs it. “Ashby giving you trouble?”

“Yes,” Laurel says.

“Good. Means he likes you.”

Laurel’s eyes widen. “Does it?”

“Hard to tell with him. He doesn’t give much away.”

When I frown at her she pats my shoulder. “Don’t brood at me. I remember when you were young and thought working on a budget spreadsheet for hours counted as a hobby.”