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“Oh Yeah,” Daddy said, turning to the right page and starting to read “One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever…”
Grace popped her thumb into her mouth and listened to the music of her daddy’s voice
“They yell at her, Scot And she’s always alone No one bothers to come out and play with her Her only friend seems to be invisible ”
“My son’s iinary friend is a duck What does that say about him, I wonder?”
“This is serious,” Lexi said She had spent endless hours wrestling with her own emotions, and no matter how often or how forcefully she told herself that Grace was better off without an ex-con for athat she’d been wrong to abandon her daughter It was like opening the door on a tornado—there was no stopping the daain
Abandon The word ate through Lexi’s best intentions and stripped her bare In all her atte? And hoas it that she’d never asked herself this question before?
“You’re right,” Scot said, pushing back his chair The“It’s very serious Why don’t you sit down? You’rebeater ”
She did as he asked and sat down
“Talk to me, Lexi ”
She took a deep breath “Giving Grace up was the hardest thing I’ve ever done ” Her voice dropped; it was difficult to say the words, even after all her therapy “The only thing that kept e of what her life would be like I saw pink dresses and birthday parties with ponies and bedtiirl who grew up knowing she was loved, knohere she belonged ”
She looked up “I trusted the up “All of theive her the childhood I never had And you knohat I found? A lonely little girl whose daddy is too busy to be with her … a girl who gets yelled at for nothing … who plays all alone A girl with no friends…”
“What do you want to do?”
She got up again and began pacing “I’m a felon An ex-con I’m twenty-four years old with almost no job experience Gee, I worked in the prison library and an ice cream shop, and I picked raspberries in the summer I’m broke What can I do?”
“Did your Aunt Eva have money when she took you in?”