“Before you order,” Lavinia said, “there’s something I need to say.”
Hugo put down the menu. He had risen when she arrived and waited while she chose the chair opposite him; now she regretted the table between them and was grateful for it in the same instant.
“All right.”
His bag stood by his feet. She could have asked about the move, the room, whether he had found somewhere to buy milk. Those questions would give her ten comfortable minutes in which to be the sort of woman who made things easier. She put her hands flat beside the menu instead.
“If this morning was awful, I can’t make it unhappen.”
“I haven’t asked you to.”
“I know. I’m saying it because I might try. Then I’d be waiting for you to look happy enough.”
He did not reassure her immediately. Beyond the window somebody was struggling to fold a…
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