Page 26 of Anchor Point

She looked as if she had not a care in the world. Like this was a normal situation, and it was common for a young girl to show up unexpected at an older man’s house. It made me uncomfortable to be alone with her like this. I shook my head at her. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

She bent to retrieve the stick Buster returned with. “Dude, school got out, like, an hour ago.” Buster took off on another tear, playing his favorite game with apparently his new favorite person. “I just came by to check on my buddy. I stopped by yesterday, too, but you were at work.”

I narrowed my eyes at the wild child before me. What was she up to? “Your mom know you’re riding out here by yourself?”

She shrugged, dropping to a knee to dig through her backpack. A knot of unease unfurled in my chest. What was Rosie telling her mother about why she kept stopping by, or was she even telling her mother the truth? I knew the appropriate thing to do would be to have a conversation with Olivia, but I wasn’t quite sure it was the right time.

Rosie stood and handed me a drawing, an amateur rendering of the view of the pond. “I brought you something. It’s not very good, but I’m just learning landscape techniques. I came out here yesterday to do homework.” She held up a hand. “Before you start, don’t worry, Buster protected me. Though, he did try to follow me home.”

An unusual feeling rolled around inside me, something warm and sweet. I tamped it down, shoving it behind that wall I’d built so long ago. I wanted to get to know my daughter, but…

“Rosie, it’s not a good idea for you to be out here alone, let alone with a man you just met. You gotta be smarter than that. You’re putting me in a bad place here.”

Her face fell as she took a step back. That soft spot near my heart pinched.

She stalked over to her bike. “I didn’t mean to make you mad. I was just dropping off that picture. I was trying to be nice. You don’t have to be a turd about it.”

I gripped the back of my neck in agitation. How the fuck was I supposed to deal with an ornery teenager, one with too much curiosity and not enough awareness?

“Thank you for the picture,” I offered awkwardly.

“Whatever. It sucks anyway.” She tossed a leg over the bike. “And so do you,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Now, wait just a damn minute,” I barked, halting her before she could get on her way. “Just because I’m looking out for you, trying to make you see reason, that calls for you to think I suck? If that’s the case, so be it.” I stepped in front of her bike and got her attention. “Better be tough if you’re gonna be stupid.”

“Okay, John Wayne wannabe.”

I drew in a breath, looking for some patience. I had no idea how to talk to a teenage girl. Hell, I scared most men, but this girl was immune to intimidation.

“Rosie.” I softened my voice intentionally. “I’m not trying to be an ass. I’m trying to look out for you. You are young and pretty, and there are some very bad people in this world who would love to hurt a pretty girl like you.”

She side-eyed me like she wanted to believe me but didn’t.

“Also, people like to think the worst, so it’s best if you don’t give them anything for ammunition.”

Finally, her shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, I totally get that.”

Something in the way she said it made me think she was talking about more than being at my place. She looked out over the water and then back at me.

“Can I ask you a question?”

My bravado shriveled, but I wouldn’t lie to her. Whatever she asked, I’d be honest. I nodded, motioning for her to continue.

“Did you ever have to move to a new place and make new friends? Why are people so shitty?”

I had a feeling this was going to be a complex conversation, one I had no idea how to navigate.

“Why don’t we take a walk around the pond, and you tell me what’s going on?”

A half hour later, we’d barely made it to the opposite side of the pond, having to stop and throw Buster’s stick every other step. The sun glinted off the water under a bright blue sky. Buster’s happy splashing at the shoreline had done its magic on both of our tempers, and we were having a real conversation. That warm, sweet feeling was back in my chest.

Rosie was relaxed and sharing about her shitty situation at school. “So anyway, by the time I realized what had happened, they’d taken my sketchbooks and snapped photos, and it was going around all over school before the day was out. People were making fun of me everywhere. And the girls who’d been so nice to me suddenly turned their backs.”

“Sounds like classic mean-girl treatment. Get close to you to get what they want, then have no trouble hurting your feelings or setting you up.” I had no idea if what I was telling her was bullshit, but it sounded reasonable.

“Exactly.”

We walked in silence a little more, Rosie stopping to toss the stick to Buster again.

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