"Don't get excited. Only made him come after us all the harder." Stutely grimaced and took another swig. He knew he ought to shut his gob already. All these months they'd spent skirting round the hole left by Robin's absence. All the times their tentative plans had crumbled into arguments without Rob to keep them on the same track, all the times he'd wished for Robin's canny insights, Robin's decisive leadership— Now Rob was here, and he seemed to be saying all the right things, but those months still sat between them, an ugly wound that Stutely couldn't seem to stop picking at.