"Thanks" Katie replied, knowing Ashley well enough to realize that the comment was not sarcastic or the like - it was just her friend's personality. And Katie had run into people with way worse traits than that. She had most of them herself, actually. Like not finding out she was pregnant until the ninth week; she'd been both drinking and smoking irregularly during those first months. At least with Novelia she'd known sooner.
"How are things with Jack?" she asked, turning the conversation away from her.