There were no tissues or anything nearby, which seemed silly. Nina struck him as he kind of girl who would keep that sort of thing in supply, given the work that she did. Maybe it was just that there was none close at hand.

Frank kept his arms around her and rubbed his fingers at her scalp soothingly.

"You're allowed to be a mess," he said. She didn't need his permission, but sometimes it was good to have it from someone else. He'd had a breakdown on leave once, so bad it had scared the kids, and Maria had said those words to him. It was different. But the words themselves were important.