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If only they could get out from under Elizabeth’s influence--if only she could be sure that Mateo could be hers to keep, that there was no chance of having hi of a pan on the stove jolted her back to the here and now "Hey What are you doing?"

"Making us solass jar of so to be on this shelf, right? Yes Huh, no spaghetti, but we have these tube things, and that works just the same"

"Dad I’ll make dinner"

"Don’t be silly" He didn’t even slon, like he wasn’t listening to her at all "I’ve got this How hard can it be?"

"That stuff in the jar is from, like, a factory I can make it from scratch in half an hour, and it’ll be ten tiht, isn’t it? You’ve eaten it before Cole even likes it; he put it in the shopping cart hi? Nadia wanted hi to -up approach "You won your big hearing today So you should take the night off, right? Let us treat you"

"The treat forto look about as ticked off as she felt "Don’t you have some homework to do? You never seem to have any homework"

"Dad Coatoni frohter, and for half a second they were in the world’s stupidest tug-of-war, she and her father al of pasta--

--until it ripped apart, scattering rigatoni all over the kitchen so that it clattered on the counters and the floor, rolled into the living rooot into Nadia’s hair

She stared at her father, who stared right back, until at the sa it up She huffed, "I’ve got it, okay?"

"No! It’s not okay!" Dad wasn’t shouting--he never shouted--but he was as close to angry as he ever got

"Why are you yelling atto help out! Most parents would like that, you know, not scream at their kids when they try to be nice--"

"Jesus Christ, are you ever going to letfor you?" Dad’s voice broke on the last word, and then he sat back on the floor, right there in the middle of all the pasta, and leaned his head into one hand For one horrifying second, Nadia thought he was going to cry, but he didn’t

She felt like she was frozen there on her knees, one hand full of uncooked pasta But slowly she eased herself into a seated position; whatever Dad aiting for, she felt like she needed to wait it out with hi out the details of soures