Dom took another bite of pasta. And things were certainly awkward now. He picked at his food.

"I wouldn't say we're poor," Dom said. "But everyone has trouble making ends meet from time to time."

He was staying out of this if he could. He'd only said anything at all because Tory had directed the question to him. He took another bite of food, wondering if he could bail.

He watched his father. And there was a man who hated confrontation. Let everyone walk over him when he could get away with it to avoid it. But he was also one of the kindest and open-hearted souls that Dom had ever encountered. Not to mention patient. No one else would have put up with raising him, his mother certainly hadn't. She hadn't handled him well even before her relatives convinced her that moving away from them was the best thing to do with what little sanity she had.

Bitter? Maybe a little.

Nice his father was--but easily cowed, and eager enough to give that it often got him taken advantage of. He'd be suspicious of Sarah if he hadn't already seen enough evidence that she was sincere.

His father was utterly useless in a headache like this.