I ate dinner under the watchful gaze of my father. He smoked his pipe while I ate demurely. I didn’t want to eat! I wanted to see Mason and hug him and kiss him if he’d let me. I also wanted to crawl on my stomach and grip his leg while wailing for forgiveness.
“You’re not eating.” Papa scolded gently. I pushed the huge tray of food and juice away from me.
“I’m not hungry,” I grumbled. My stomach felt tight after a few bites but I had forced myself to eat a few more to keep Papa off my back. He was going to hound me anyway so I had taken the last two bites for nothing.
“Cosima, you’ve taken five spoons out of that plate. You must be hungry,” He puffed out more smoke. This one wasn’t mixed with harmful substances. He had stopped trying to get me to build a resistance to poisonous s
