"Well, the obvious comment is that you barely look decades old," he points out. Of course, she may have been an infant when it started, but the way she worded things doesn't make that sound right to him. "And learning about others and this place and all? Never unprompted. Not entirely." It was the only way they were going to learn.

"Came from the Army," he admits with a nod. "Last name's Barbara, which I still prefer it to Dale." His nose wrinkles even as he says it. "But thanks."