They are silent for a long time, both of them looking down at the tablecloth, wondering what to say next. Finally, Melinda breaks the silence.     "Why didn't you come and find me, Father?" she asks quietly, looking up at him. "And why did you leave? Why did you leave me?" she says, her voice growing louder.      She is unprepared for the tears that begin to fall as she awaits his answer. She takes a napkin and wipes them away almost angrily.      "Oh Melinda," her father says quietly. "I had to leave… I never thought I would be gone forever, but-but things just worked out that way. I was told that you didn't want to see me. I had to respect that."      She looks at him a bit suspiciously. "Who told you?" she asks.      He cocks his head and tells her with his eyes that she already knows the answer to that question. She looks down as he answers her. "Your grandmother informed me of your wishes, Melinda."      "She lied," she says.      They are both silent for a while. And then: "How is your mother, Melinda?"      Melinda looks up at him a bit alarmed. "Didn't you know? She's dead," she exclaims.      Her father's face grows pale. "Oh my god," he says simply, leaning back in shock. "I wasn't told- When?"      Melinda shakes her head. "I don't know when exactly… A few weeks after you left, Mother disappeared. Gramma Plum told me that she had left a note and said that she wasn't coming back. I found out later that she had died." She spreads her hands apologetically. "I wish I knew more," she says quietly.      "Your grandmother… I assume she's dead, too?"      Melinda nods. "Yes. She passed last summer. That's when I found out about Mother."      "She raised you," he says quietly. "And I wasn't there." He gets up and walks to one of the windows facing the backyard, staring out almost as if he were in a trance.