Jessica's question sat there.
Arianne's throat had closed.
From the back, Lily was yelling about flour. Leo's tablet chiming. Normal sounds. The kind that had no business being in the same room as a question about how Alex died.
She grabbed the coffee. Cold. Drank it anyway.
"That's what I'm trying to find out."
She set the cup down. Her fingers stayed on the rim. Then she made herself let go.
Jessica watched her. Didn't push.
"No one thought it would end like that," Jessica said finally. Too steady. Like she'd practiced it. "The accident. There was no warning. Nothing that made us think—"
She stopped. Pressed her lips together.
Arianne's pulse was in her throat. Thick. Loud.
"We kept going back over it," Jessica said. "In the weeks after. Looking for the thing we missed. Something." Her hands tightened on the cup. "But there wasn't anything. Or if there was, we didn't see it."
Arianne held her face. Careful.
"You wouldn't have," she said.
Jessica looked at her.
