Sophie told him over breakfast. The light was still soft through the kitchen windows, the lake flat and silver, the morning quiet except for the clink of cups and the rustle of pages. She was reading something on her laptop, a document marked with comments and tracked changes, when she looked up and said it.
"Kerensa flies back to Chiang Mai tomorrow."
Aaron set his coffee down. "Tomorrow?"
"She has a project starting next week — a new translation. She extended her stay for the conference but she can't push it further." Sophie paused, her fingers resting on the keyboard. "I think you should see her before she leaves."
He did not ask why. He knew why. The conversation in the car after the UCLA talk still lingered — Sophie naming what she saw, what she was not afraid of. She was not pushing. She was opening a door.
"Do you know when she's free?" he asked.
"I'll find out."
She smiled, and the conversation moved on.
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