She was obviously in poor spirits now, and Roman tried to lighten the mood.

"Wanna get dinner and maybe go to a movie later? Or would you rather hang out with your friends?" he asked.

"I don't really have any friends yet," she replied. "At least not that I want to hang out with outside school all that much."

"Well I guess you're stuck with me, then."

The girl smiled briefly. "I'm not stuck. I like hanging out with you, Dad. You'll remember how much I didn't want to stay with Mom when you guys broke up."

"I hope you know how happy that makes me," he told her, forcing...