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“We’d never be able to figure that out.”
    “So you think we’re dumber than dolphins?” Hannah interjected to keep Adam from becoming a target.
    “Maybe.” Matt slumped back in his chair and went silent again. Adam waited a moment, his eyes on his son, before he turned back to the food on the desk.
    Hannah wondered what had caused Matt’s sudden burst of conversation. She was glad he wanted to join in, but his topic seemed oddly arbitrary. “What would you ask a dolphin if you spoke the same language?”
    Matt shrugged. “I dunno.”
    “I’d ask them if they could talk to whales,” Lucy said.
    “I’d warn them to stay away from fishing nets,” Estelle commented .
    Matt sat up. “If they’re so smart, you’d think they would have figured that out by now.”
    Hannah saw Adam’s movements slow as he listened to the conversation. This time he did not attempt to join in.
    “Maybe they just swim too fast to avoid them,” Hannah said.
    “But they use echolocation,” Matt said. “They should be able to hear where they are.”
    “I guess nets are hard to spot with sonar,” Sonya said.
    Plates appeared in front of the diners as Adam did his smooth tango around the table again. He finished and stepped back. “Brook trout over apple-parsnip puree with an apricot Grenobloise. My local supplier delivered the trout five minutes before I grilled it.”
    The fragrance wafting up from the steaming dish in front of her made Hannah groan with appreciation. “Who needs to eat? I’m just going to sit here and inhale.”
    Adam wore his practiced smile, but his attention was on Matt. His son’s opinion was the one he cared about. Hannah took up her own fork and flaked off a bite of trout as she surreptitiously watched the two Bosch males. The smile moved all the way up into Adam’s eyes when Matt seized his fork and shoveled up a mouthful of fish and parsnips.
    The rest of the meal passed smoothly, with a dessert of chocolate pots de crème bringing moans of ecstasy from all but one of the diners. Matt made no comment, but Hannah noticed he swirled his finger around the empty bowl and licked it when he thought no one was watching.
    As everyone rose amidst a general surge of gratitude for the spectacular meal, Adam leaned down beside Hannah and murmured, “May I speak with you alone for just a minute?”
    She nodded and signaled Sonya to take Matt out of the room with her. The door closed behind them and Adam turned to her, his smile vanishing like snow in June. “I know you’re busy so I’ll just ask. How is Matt doing?”
    “Fine,” Hannah said, putting conviction in her voice. “He’s a smart young man. He gets the message. He seems genuinely sorry Trace was injured.”
    “You don’t think it was deliberate?”
    “Definitely not. It was pure carelessness that he covered up with bravado.”
    She could see the tension in Adam’s posture ease. “You seem to know humans as well as you know animals.”
    The gross inaccuracy of that made Hannah shake her head emphatically. “I’m a vet for a reason. People lie. Animals don’t.”
    Surprise flashed across his face before speculation took its place. “One of the less impressive attributes of higher intelligence .”
    How had he found that crack in her carefully maintained professional façade? Irritated with herself for revealing too much, she checked her watch. “Matt and I have to get going on my farm rounds. Thanks for a delicious lunch.”
    “I’ll take Matt home with me,” Adam said. “I’ve imposed on you enough already. If I hadn’t been at the end of my rope, I never would have asked you to do this.”
    Relief swept through her. Matt had been unenthusiastic about visiting the large animals, and now she didn’t have to drag him along with her on her farm rounds. Then she remembered his admission of guilt over Trace. She’d breached his defenses for a minute there.
    Some impulse of charity made her say, “He might prefer to go with you,