I stepped into the dining room.
Vanessa sat at the table with her sister, Patricia, and Patricia’s two children. Plates of food covered the table. Everyone looked comfortable.
Sofia stood near the kitchen doorway, holding an empty plate.
Nobody had noticed me yet.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
The room went silent.
Vanessa’s face changed immediately.
“Gabriel! You’re home early.”
I looked at Sofia.
She was wearing an old sweatshirt, and her eyes were fixed on the floor.
“Come sit beside me,” I told her.
She hesitated.
That hesitation frightened me more than anything Vanessa had said.
My daughter used to run into my arms whenever I returned from a long trip. Now she looked as if she needed permission just to sit beside her own father.
Sofia slowly approached the table.
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“She’s just being dramatic. We were teaching her some manners.”
