Alexis stared at the man sitting beside her in a quiet corner of the coffee shop. Though his attention seemed entirely focused on the spoon he was stirring his tea with, she had a feeling he didn't fail to notice anything that was going on around them.
She sighed as she realized he wouldn't make things easier for her; he wasn't her father, he had no reason to listen to her lecture. Still she had to try; she'd been mothering her own father for too long to remain unmoved at someone else's pain, even more so when it came to a man bereaved of his only child.
Had she lived, the girl would have been about her age; and that only increased her sympathy for her father's old friend.
"Your daughter, she wouldn't have wanted this."
Mr. Jane looked up sharply, pain and anger flickering in his eyes. "How can you tell? You didn't know her."
"I didn't," Alexis confirmed softly. "But I too am a daughter. If something happened to me, I wouldn't want Dad to waste his life in bitterness and regret."
Jane's fingers trembled ever so slightly, and the teaspoon clinked against the rim of his cup.