Realizing that Ransel had been silent, he initiated a conversation. “I heard the Yvonnian food here is delicious. There’s a wide variety of dishes, and everything is authentic. Hans, is there anything you want to try?”

Hansel was neutral about it. “You go ahead and pick the dishes.”

Ever since they’d left the jewelry store, Hansel had been fiddling with hist lighter. His mind was elsewhere.

He recalled how Miranda hadn’t even spared him a glance and walked ...