Ella

Dad's jaw is still clenched when I glance at him from across the room. His anger radiates off him like heat waves from a summer road, and I know that the only way to diffuse it is to inject some lightness into the moment. I pull myself together, despite the weight of the situation, and offer a small joke about the Chamber of Commerce president probably regretting the day his nephew was born.

Dad doesn't laugh immediately, but I catch the twitch of his lips, a faint glimmer ...