How do I earn the right to hear them call me Dad?” She sighed and looked out the window at an oak tree stirring in the wind.

“You can’t buy that title, Roderick.

Not this one.

I never taught them to hate you — I only taught them the plain truth, and let them draw their own conclusions, and they are far too intelligent to have drawn the wrong ones.

If you want a place in their lives, you have to stop behaving like a billionaire hunting an acquisition and start behaving like a man willing to earn his grace.

It will take years.