He and Mr. Caleb were standing in the hallway when Rebecca came around the corner from the kitchen, a small tray in her hands.
“Sir,” she said, looking at Mr. Caleb, “would your guest like something to drink?”
Benjamin turned, and he stopped.
Not dramatically. Not the way people stop in films with wide eyes and sharp breaths. Just a pause, brief and quiet. His smile stayed on his face, but something behind it shifted, the way a light flickers once and then steadies.
He looked at Rebecca. His eyes moved slowly across her face, the way you look at something when your brain is doing a calculation it has not told you about yet. Her eyes, her cheekbones, the shape of her jaw, the way she held herself.
Then the smile came back fully. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, as if answering a question only he had heard, and turned back to Mr. Caleb.
“Water is fine,” he said. “Thank you.”
Rebecca nodded and went back to the kitchen.
Behind her, she heard Benjamin say something quietly to Mr. Caleb. She could not make out the words. Then she heard Mr. Caleb say, “She started last week. Grace recommended her.”
Benjamin gave a short sound, half laugh, half something else she could not read at all.