That silenced him.
A server passed nearby.
Music began again as the formal program moved toward its final portion.
Dad rubbed one hand over the edge of the tablecloth.
“I thought you were embarrassed,” he said to me.
“About what?”
“About not having the kind of career Ethan had.”
I stared at him.
Ethan stared at him too.
Dad seemed to hear himself for the first time.
“I realize how ridiculous that sounds now.”
“Yes,” I said.
“It does.”
He nodded.
“I thought when you said you couldn’t talk about something, you were avoiding the subject.”
“Sometimes I was.”
His eyes lifted.
“But not because I was embarrassed about my career.”
“Because of me?”
I could have softened it.
I chose not to.
“Because you weren’t listening.”
Dad looked toward the stage again.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then General Harrington appeared beside our table.
“Colonel.”
I stood automatically.
