Lily had asked twice before breakfast was finished.
Not about Franz. About Kyle. Whether he would visit again, whether she could show him the new game Leo had been playing, whether Aunt Aria had his number. Leo hadn't spoken, but he'd watched her face when Lily asked, which was its own kind of answer.
Arianne had said she would look into it.
She was turning that over when Ellie arrived.
The café sat half a block from the clinic. Close enough that the staff moved like they had somewhere to be, coats kept on, conversations brief. Arianne had chosen a table near the window — not for the view. For the angle. She could see the entrance and the street outside without turning.
She had been sitting there for eleven minutes.
The cup in front of the empty chair had already gone lukewarm. She'd ordered for Ellie without thinking, which was the kind of assumption she'd been making since this started — moving pieces without asking whether anyone wanted to be moved.
