“She’s just learning that actions have consequences, Valerie.

You can’t go running to comfort her every single time she runs into ordinary household discipline.”

“Put her on the phone with me this minute, Trevor.”

“She won’t talk to either of us until she’s calmed down,” he said, adjusting his gold wristwatch against his shirt cuff, the click of the band clear across the international line.

“I’m not hauling a sobbing nine-year-old downstairs just to settle your nerves while you’re five thousand miles away in Germany.”

“Trevor, I need to hear her voice.”