If it were someone else across from him, he'd assume they were being snippy. Not Beth, though. All it takes is picturing her down at the stables, greeting the horses by name, to remember how young she is.

She's practically a kid.

"You can tell me to shut up," he says, smile shading towards wry. "I won't hold it against you."

His own fork had been suspended in his fingers; now, without making a show of it, he resumes eating.