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“Did he . . . do something to you?” I asked.

“No.”

“Seems like he did. People don’t just hate their parents for no reason.”

“I do.” That was all she said before she took another bite. I stared, wondering what to say to a girl who had so much anger. It would be hard to get her to open up.

But not as hard for me to take the first step.

“I hated my dad too.”

“You’re not like me.”

“Probably not, but I want to tell you a little about where I came from. Do you want to hear it?”

“No,” Agnes said immediately.

Wow, okay. I nodded and kept my mouth shut.

“Actually,” she said in a much quieter voice, “yes.”

I tried not to perk up, but I felt like I’d won a prize to get this grumpy child to want to know about me. “My dad is a firefighter. He would spend half a week at the station, and someone in town would watch me.”

“That sounds fun. No one could tell you not to do something.”

“They did tell me that. A lot, actually. More so than my dad. At first, it was annoying. Then I realized they cared. They did more with me than he did.”

Agnes blinked. “So being annoying means they care?”

“Sometimes. It was mostly that they tried. That’s what told me they cared.”

Agnes stared at her cereal. “Gabriel is trying.”

She was a smart kid. “Exactly.”

“I still hate him.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s not my dad. Or he wasn’t, until he had to be.”

I blinked. Was that a riddle?

“Did you ever feel like your dad didn’t want you?” she asked.

“I . . . did. Yes.”

“I know Gabriel didn’t want us.”

“You know that?” I repeated, my heart heavy in my chest.

“Yes. We’re just a chore for him.” She moved her spoon through her bowl, no longer interested in eating. “He’s not a dad. He’s just a man who’s around. He’s always been like that.”

I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to think it. But her words finally matched what I knew about him. He told me he hadn’t wanted kids. He believed he would be a terrible father.

Agnes clearly agreed.

“Don’t feel bad for me. I’ll make him regret it.” She went back to eating, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her. She was affected by this.