Pleased at least that Carlie had calmed enough to talk, Paul nonetheless felt the statement his youngest daughter gave like a punch to the gut.  That she had been driven so far as to want to live with her mother spoke volumes of how deep Carlie's anger and disgust went.  His lips tightened.  "We'll talk about that afterward," he told her, deferring the matter.  Perhaps, just perhaps he could calm things down somewhat, and it wouldn't have to reach that point.  "And we'll talk in the lounge, where we can all sit down and try to be rational about this," he said.  "Celeste, are you thre?"  Paul turned around, looking for his elder daughter who had stood behind the door at his entrance.  It had seemed odd, but the matter with Carlie took precedence over that oddity.  It was then that he saw the swelling of his eldest daughter's lip, and Celeste saw the rage enter his eyes.  Paul stalked out, saying nothing.  He needed a few moments to cool down; the situation was too delicate to let anger speak.  Going to the kitchen, he reached into the freezer and pulled out a bag of peas, before returning to the lounge to await the arrival of Carlie and Celeste.