Sun Mote Copse And it might get cold, I just don't care

Phox nodded lightly. Once again, he reserved any judgment on how he would have handled the situation. Nellie wasn't his kid, and he didn't pretend to know her as well as Niamh did. He thought Towhee might have been able to weasel her way into getting the information out of Nellie, but maybe Niamh was right. Maybe it would be too obvious. In any case, it sounded like Niamh wanted to give the news herself, which was perfectly okay with Phox. Just so long as he didn't have to do it, yeesh.

At the word "heartbreak," Phox couldn't help but guffaw. Sure, he considered Nellie a friend of sorts, but he couldn't imagine that she'd be heartbroken over him. C'mon, you really think she's that wound up in a romance that's not even happening? he asked. Then again, Phox had never been the kind to pine after somebody unless they were in on it. Niamh was the perfect example of somebody he had known, liked, but hadn't entertained the thought seriously until they were both in the right place at the right time.