Krem didn't pry about the husband, as Adaline had not pried about any partners--past or present--in his own life, but he smiled a little at the idea of his mother meeting anyone he'd been intimate with. She'd probably have died of shock.

"What's your favorite thing to bake?" he asked Adaline, finding that somehow infinitely more interesting than any curiosity he might harbor about a husband who wasn't here anyways. "My mother taught me her family's recipe for lemon cake, that's been my favorite for years."