Melting process - Tradução em português

Alguém pode me ajudar na tradução do trecho abaixo, especificamente com "melting process" (não entendi o sentido no contexto)?
Em resumo, a filha não fala com o pai desde a morte da mãe e ele não sabe por quê. O tio marcou um almoço num restaurante sem que a filha soubesse que se encontraria com o pai e a filha faz menção de ir embora, mas ele pede que fique.

He couldn’t believe this was the girl he read bedtime stories, then kissed and tucked in good night. She was practically a stranger.
Grant eased the chair away from the table and sat across from his daughter.
“You planning on interrogating me?” she asked.
“That’s the furthest thing from my mind.”
He motioned to a passing waiter, desperate for a pot of tea to calm him. He would also have taken any advice the server had on how to break the ice with a daughter he hadn’t seen since they’d buried her mother the year before.
Rachel certainly didn’t seem interested in the melting process.
“So why exactly are we here?” she asked.
“I think your uncle was just trying to do something nice.”