People hide the heavy stuff inside the small talk. Listen underneath the weather.

Hard things rarely get introduced directly. They arrive folded into something safe, a joke about being tired, a passing comment about home, a question that sounds casual and is not. Saying it plainly costs too much, so people test the water with something small and see whether anyone leans in. Most of the time nobody does.

When something mild sounds slightly heavier than it should, ask one more question instead of moving on. You are not interrogating anybody. You are leaving a door open long enough for them to walk through if they want to.