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the time he arrived home, he had pretty much accomplished both.
    After leaving the car in the driveway, Dan walked into his house through the side door and found Carol sitting alone in the kitchen. From the redness around her eyes and nose it was obvious that she had been crying.
    “You’re home late,” she said.
    “Sorry, I was talking some stuff over with Joel.”
    “You weren’t just drinking beer and playing backgammon?”
    “No. I had one Bud. That’s it. We were trying to work out some business ideas.”
    “You come up with any?”
    “Too early to tell. We’ll see.”
    “What happened to your cheek?”
    Dan grimaced as he lightly touched the swollen area around his cheek. “I slipped getting into my car and smacked my face against the door, if you can believe it.”
    Her eyes shifted away from him. “There’s some macaroni and cheese in the oven,” she said.
    “Thanks. I’ll have some in a little while. Where are the kids?”
    “Susie’s upstairs. Gary is sleeping over at a friend’s house.”
    “Which friend?”
    “Brandon.”
    He nodded. “I’ll see Susie and be right back.”
    “Take your time.”
    Dan hesitated before turning away from her. He wanted to say something, but there was nothing he could think of that could possibly provide any comfort. Don’t worry about a thing, honey, I’ll be robbing a bank soon and we’ll be on easy street then . He felt sick inside. As he made his way up the stairs, he forced a smile, preparing himself to see his daughter.
    After knocking on Susie’s door, he waited for her to yell out What? in that overly exasperated voice of hers before he walked in. She was lying on the bed plugged into her iPod. He sat down on the edge next to her and kissed her forehead. She ignored him for a moment, then removed the plugs from her ears.
    “Hi, Daddy,” she said without much enthusiasm.
    “Hi, Princess. I just wanted to say hello. See how you’re doing.”
    “I’m okay,” she murmured sullenly.
    He felt his smile strain as he looked at her. She had been such a beautiful baby, but as she grew older that changed and it became obvious that physically she was going to take after him. Instead of being blessed with Carol’s delicate features and lithe, near perfect body, she had inherited his bone structure and body type. Broad shoulders, wide hips, thick neck. It didn’t seem fair for a twelve-year-old girl to have to be short-changed like that. Susie’s genetic makeup was one more thing for him to feel guilty about.
    “Do anything fun today?” he asked.
    “There was nothing to do. Everyone I know is at camp.”
    “You’ll go next year.”
    “Whatever.” She peeked at him as her mouth pushed into a hurt look. “Mom said we’re going to have to move,” she said.
    “No, honey, that’s not true.”
    “Why did Mom say it then?”
    “Your mom is very tired, that’s all.”
    “If we moved, where would we move to?”
    “Honey, please don’t worry about this. We’re not moving. I promise.”
    “I don’t want to lose my friends.”
    “You won’t have to. Honey, you’ve got a promise from me, okay?”
    She nodded, but didn’t look convinced as she pushed the plugs back into her ears. Dan sat for a moment, then patted her head and left the room. When he went back downstairs to the kitchen, Carol stared straight past him as if she were catatonic. He ignored her, grabbed a plate, and spooned out some macaroni and cheese. Instead of joining her at the table he pulled a barstool up to the counter. He took a few bites of the food before he could taste it. Not that there was much to taste anyway.
    “Nancy quit today,” Carol said.
    Dan looked up from his plate. “Who?”
    “Nancy Goldberg. Probably my only friend at work.”
    “I’m sorry. Why’d she quit?”
    “They’re cutting our hours. They’re starting to outsource some of the paralegal work to India.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    Carol shook her head.
    “People in India can do that type