His fingers on her palm tickled a little, but was also relaxing, and Su wondered if that helped the process along. She'd never thought of herself as introverted, nor quiet. And she was fairly sure no one would ever describe her as sympathetic, though she liked the think she could be, in her own way. The mention of her mother made her stop mulling over these ideas.
"My mother?" Su had been home a few weeks ago to spend the weekend, and everyone had seemed fine then. Fen was getting ready for her last year of school, and had hardly been home because of football practice. But both of her parents were as normal as ever, her mother trying to push off half a closet full of new clothes on her. Su frowned and said, almost defensively, "She's fine."