Ford watched Cash chew his lip. He had expected that it might be easier if Ford steered the conversation, which was why he'd asked, but it was hard to know where to start. He didn't want to assume, to jump into the middle of something that might be the root of the problem but might be entirely unrelated... but anything that wasn't at least a bit of an assumption felt too trivial to bother with. He couldn't possibly ask something like are you worried about being a father because what would that help? Obviously the answer was yes. Even without all the rest of Cash's baggage, anyone would be worried about the prospect of being a father if they thought the child's mother might die. It was hardly a revelation; where would it get them?
The first question that occurred to him was Why did you come here, but that wasn't what he really meant — what he would have meant was Why didn't you go see Gallivan? He couldn't ask it outright because he'd never told Cash what he'd pieced together, never told him about the conversation on the patio at Cash's wedding to Adrienne, and this was not the moment to stop and explain things that had happened over a year ago. But if he asked Cash why he'd come here that could mean anything: why leave the house where Adrienne was dying, why trust Ford, why go anywhere rather than just getting straight to whatever it was he intended — and Ford didn't like many of the implications of these questions he wouldn't ask and didn't mean, so he hesitated.
"How long?" was what he eventually asked. "Have you been feeling this way?" Obviously it couldn't have been this acute for long — not weeks or months — but it might have been building for a while, and maybe Cash's answer here would help Ford figure out what to ask to get back to the beginning of it.
The first question that occurred to him was Why did you come here, but that wasn't what he really meant — what he would have meant was Why didn't you go see Gallivan? He couldn't ask it outright because he'd never told Cash what he'd pieced together, never told him about the conversation on the patio at Cash's wedding to Adrienne, and this was not the moment to stop and explain things that had happened over a year ago. But if he asked Cash why he'd come here that could mean anything: why leave the house where Adrienne was dying, why trust Ford, why go anywhere rather than just getting straight to whatever it was he intended — and Ford didn't like many of the implications of these questions he wouldn't ask and didn't mean, so he hesitated.
"How long?" was what he eventually asked. "Have you been feeling this way?" Obviously it couldn't have been this acute for long — not weeks or months — but it might have been building for a while, and maybe Cash's answer here would help Ford figure out what to ask to get back to the beginning of it.
Set by Lady!