Page 16 of Hello Stranger

“Don’t call me Richard. Dad will do.”

“What’s the rush, exactly? The doctor said it wasn’t urgent.”

“You need to get it taken care of.”

As I looked closer at my dad, he seemed atypically rumpled. Tie askew. Wrinkles in his Oxford cloth. He always traveled in a business suit. Formal guy. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Singapore?”

“I came home early from my conference.”

“Forthis?” I asked. It had to be for something else.

“This couldn’t wait,” he said. That sounded like a yes.

Was this all it took to get his attention? “Wow. I should have gotten a cavernoma years ago.”

“You’ve always had it. It’s congenital.”

“I was joking.”

But he was in no mood to joke. He actually looked… worried.

Huh. Worried about his daughter. Was this a first?

“It’s fine,” I said next. “I’ll handle it.”

But he shook his head. “It’s done. I’ve already scheduled you for Wednesday.”

At that, I just frowned. “ThisWednesday?”

He nodded, like,Affirmative.

I tried to think if my dad had ever scheduled anything for me—even an orthodontist appointment. “Why wouldyouschedulemysurgery?”

He looked at me, like,Duh. “I’ve got some connections.”

“No kidding.”

“Otherwise, it was a three-week wait.”

“Fine with me.”

“But you need to get it done—”

“Right now,” I finished for him. “Yeah. You said.”

His latte sat untouched.

I stirred my own, then watched the bubbles circle around in the cup. Then I said, “Look, I’ll be honest. This seems like a whole lot of interest all of a sudden for a guy who has literally not asked me one question about myself in the last decade.”

“I understand.”

“So what’s going on?”

He nodded, like he’d been waiting for this question. “Your mom,” he said then, looking down at the distressed wood tabletop.

My mom.He absolutely never brought up the topic of my mom.

He had my attention now. But then he paused so long I finally had to ask: “My mom. Okay. What about her?”

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