A disappointed person deserves company that does not turn hope into another obligation.

Disappointment does not need arguing with. When someone has just lost something they hoped for, an immediate offer of reasons for optimism asks them to manage your discomfort alongside their own, and often to perform a recovery they do not feel. Hope handed over too early becomes one more task in a bad week.

Sit with the person and let the news be as bad as it is for now. Say you are sorry and mean only that. If they reach toward a next step themselves, follow them there, but let the timing belong to them.