Jacob ignored Mattie's outburst. He'd figured she'd be as angry with him, and he knew it was well deserved. In response to Nicholas he said, "She'll be safe, don't worry. Not only can she take care of herself, but we'll have scouts."

"Yeah," Nicholas said. "Alright. I get it." He paused and chewed on his bottom lip for a minute before saying, "And Alice?"

Any light that was visible in Jacob's eyes was now diminished. His lips pressed into a thin line and he looked away from his brother, saying, "Alice...won't be coming. We'll talk about that later. This is bigger than us. I need to eat and my keys are still outside. Want anything?"

The rapid subject change surprised Nicholas, and because of that, he could only suspect the worst had happened to his brother's lover. This new information needed to simmer in his brain before he could fully process it. When he responded to Jacob, he sounded far away in his own mind. Things were happening too fast. "Yeah," he said, "Um...uh, just, two chicken burgers, large fries, and a chocolate milkshake." He glanced at Mattie and said, "Get her four burgers, two large fries, a peach milkshake, and a large orange soda."

Jacob clicked his tongue, pulled out his wallet, counted his money, then shoved it back into his pocket. "Alright. But you owe me when you get paid." Then he walked out the door.