The study room at the Starlight household had good light in the mornings, exactly as Lily had said. The light came through two tall windows on the eastern wall and landed across the worktable, making the room feel larger and warmer, capturing the specific quality of morning light in early autumn before the season fully turned cold.
Elizabeth was already there when Rex came down.
She had arrived before him, which he had expected. She had arranged the table with the precise organization of someone who does not function well in disorder: the Kregg compact document in the center, her own notes from the canyon beside it, two blank ledgers open and ready, and a cup of tea that was still steaming on the corner farthest from the documents, where it could not be knocked over by accident.
She looked up when he came in. "Sorry..."
"I started without you," she said.
"I see that," Rex said.
