Midway through starting to tug open the hat so he could even start to think of pulling it on, he found it abruptly yanked out of his hands, and then the jacket a moment later. The suddenness of it and her stark flat words rocked him backwards like a physical blow.

He stood up abruptly, the fingers of one hand quivering in midair and his jaw open, but for the moment he had no words. Only shock and alarm.