Takata’s expression was weary as he set a bowl of soup before me, then slid a plate with two pieces of toast beside it. He looked at the amulet I wore to warn me about surprise demon attacks. I thought he was going to say something, but he didn’t. Angry, I took a napkin from the holder on the table. “You know how I like my soup,” I said. “With toast.” My chin quivered. “You come over here a lot?”

He turned from the stove with his own bowl. “Once a year, maybe. More than that, and she starts leaning on the past too much. She likes to talk about you. She’s very proud.”

I watched him set his bowl down across from me and sink into the chair, shifting to find a comfortable position on the thin padding. I spared a thought that I could probably chart his visits by his tour dates and her doctor visits.

“Sorry,” he said, hesitantly taking a napkin for himself. “I know this isn’t much of a dinner, but I don’t cook much, and even an idiot can warm up soup.”

Ignoring the toast, I tried the soup, and my tension eased as the rich warmth slipped down. He’d mixed it with milk. Just the way I liked it. I glanced up when his pocket started to hum. The tall witch looked discomforted as he pulled a cell phone out and checked the number.

“You have to go?” I said bitingly. I should have just pinned him to the wall and made him talk.

“No. It’s Ripley. My drummer.” A wan smile curved up his thin lips, making his long face look longer. “She’s calling to give me an excuse to leave if I need it.”

I took another sip of soup, angry at myself that I was hungry when my life was falling apart. “Must be nice,” I muttered.

Giving up on ignoring the toast as a matter of principle, I picked it up and dunked it. So he knew I liked toast with my tomato soup. That didn’t mean I shouldn’t eat it. Elbows on the table, I looked at him as I chewed. I felt drained, and this was just too weird.

Takata’s gaze fell away. “I wanted to tell you,” he said, and my heart gave a hard thump. “For a long time. But Robbie left when he found out, and it just about killed your mother. I couldn’t dare risk it.”

But you could risk having coffee with me ages ago? And you could risk hiring me to work your security last year? Burying my unreasonable feelings of jealousy, I said, “Robbie knows?”

He looked old all of a sudden, his blue eyes pinched. I wondered whether, if I had kids, they would have green eyes or blue.