When Rowena spoke, her questions sounded ordinary enough—where Bill grew up, how long he had lived nearby, what he did before his current job. Still, there was something oddly specific in the way she asked, as if she were quietly confirming something about him, invisible to the others in the room.
Bill answered easily, smiling with the relaxed charm Ashley knew well. Yet she imagined he avoided Rowena’s eyes, glancing instead at Ashley or Calvin as he spoke. The behavior was subtle, almost invisible, but once Ashley noticed it, she couldn’t ignore it. She thought Bill was feeling conscious under Rowena’s scrutiny.