The table went very quiet. Even Harlow stopped talking mid-sentence about the merits of strawberry versus blueberry compote.
Iris set her fork down carefully. "What about her?"
"She just showed up? After two years?"
"Twenty months," Iris corrected automatically. "But yeah."
Cassidy's expression shifted into something Iris couldn't quite read. Not quite angry. Not quite sympathetic. Something in between that felt dangerously close to understanding.
"That sucks."
"Cass—" Vivienne started.
"What? It does." Cassidy leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "My mom's been gone basically my whole life too. I mean, she's physically here sometimes, but she's not actually here, you know?"
Iris did know. That was exactly how it had felt with Diana. Present but absent. Physically occupying space but emotionally checked out, focused on her next boyfriend or her next crisis or anything except her actual children.
