“Any other marching orders?”
The waiter came around and checked on them. After the man left, Janet said, “I"m not blind, you know.”
He sighed and looked out through the window beside them. As he did so, Janet sensed a looming dread fall between them. She braced herself, reached over and tapped his arm. “Dad?”
“Yeah, I"m here,” he muttered.
“Please tell me what"s going on.”
Clearing his throat, he held her in a tragic gaze. Her heart stopped as his eyes dampened. As he wiped them with his napkin, she saw him swallow hard. “I don"t know how–”
“How–what?” she said.
He looked back out the window. “How to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
He sat with that for a minute. Finally, he said, “A year ago, I found blood in my stool so I went to have it checked out. Routine stuff.” He stiffened his j
