"In a second." She's too stymied by the way he looks like he's trying to brace himself--for what, she's not entirely sure. But something's wrong, painfully wrong, and Beth has the sinking feeling that if she tries to touch him again, she'll flinch further back.

And then she understands, she thinks. Maybe a little bit, like a crack of light coming through a door--just enough to start to see the shape of what it is that's troubling him. If she's right, the last thing he's going to want is to say a word about it when anyone's in earshot. "Think you can eat anything?"