Instinctively, he felt as if he had somehow failed some critical parenting test and now he was being made to feel awful for not making the grade.
He reached up and ran a hand over his face, pushing his thumb and finger into his closed eyes.
There had to be a better way than this. There had to be something more he could do.
* * * *
“So,” Rosemary said with a smile, kicking her heels against the wood as she sat on the side and looked aimlessly out of the glazed window, “you all set for the party?”
Charlie regarded the reflection that looked back—top button of a shirt undone, tie pulled down, maroon blazer.
“I don’t know,” they offered, turning to face this way and then that, looking at their chipped black nail polish and heavy eyeliner. “I don’t really think it’s a good idea. Phoenix’s
