The not-fit-for-parenting part of it, Don Juan could have said, but his mother had dramatically called for silence and something told him snark was inadvisable at a moment like this.

"She wasn't rejected," he protested. "She had a mother, up until two years ago." Really before Adriana had died, Don Juan had considered it none of his business what she did with the girl. Afterwards — well, yes, technically that would have been the time to step up if ever there was one. But it wasn't as though she was out on the street. She had someone taking care of her, and literally anyone would have been a better choice than him, that much was obvious — even to his mother.

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