Ben had been trying to decide how best to transition to the conversation he wanted to have ever since she’d walked in, which was: it seems like no one knows anything, so we still have a chance to fix this. All thought of bringing that up died at her explanation of where she had been, however. When he’d been speculating on where she might have gone when she left this room, he’d considered a lot of possibilities, but nothing he’d thought about had her going to her family and then coming back. They couldn’t possibly have allowed that — so what had happened?

“...And?” he asked, his shoulders tense as he waited for her response.