" We're talking Brenda here. Do not give up hope. It is still entirely possible that your mother bashed your father with that frying pan twenty-five years ago, and that he's still deader than a doornail today."
Lisa Livia's lips quirked as she straightened and picked up her glass. "Yeah. No point in hoping that my mother's innocent and my father's alive."
"Exactly." Agnes lifted her glass. "Why look for a silver lining when there might be a cloud? If South Carolina has the death penalty, there could be an orphanage in your future yet. "

― Jennifer Crusie , Agnes and the Hitman (The Organization #0)