Ben's brow knit with confusion. She'd seen her mother that morning? So something had changed, then, if she was bringing it up so casually. Why wouldn't she have mentioned anything to him? Obviously he'd never gotten on well with her parents (even before the whole Canada thing), but there was no reason she would have had to keep secrets from him if she'd reconnected with her family. He would have been happy for her.

But — actually, that didn't seem like the explanation here. Ben couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this was off. Calling him Mr. Crouch, asking about her mother, not remembering whether he was there at the cafe or not... They hadn't had plans to meet there, she'd been meeting a friend. She knew that. There wasn't any reason for her to ask why he was here — she knew that too, or she should have.

"I don't think you saw your mother this morning," Ben said carefully. "Mel, do you... remember this morning? Like what you had for breakfast, or what you did, or anything?"

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