"She's—" That's a terrible place to pause and Hal knows it, but the question catches him more off-guard than it ought. Of course he would ask that. Always the calm and collected one in the midst of other people's grief, his own is far less neat; three weeks out, and it's still raw and jagged-edged and catching on the edges of his emotions unbidden. He seems to steel himself. "She seemed content, when last I saw her."

That's not untrue, but it's also not all, as is evident enough in the tense pause that follows that answer. But there's no avoiding this forever.

"I'm afraid Annie has moved on."