He could keep edging around it. A not insignificant part of him wants to. But the rest of him is joined to that thing down in the dark, and whatever else could or could not be said for it, at least it's always been very direct.

He sighs. "Yeah, it does. All of it does. It's all part of something I never got to be there for."

He turns his head, meets Neil's gaze. "You hear anything about you and the girls? How they're doing?"