Page 24 of Lilly

My phone rings. It's my dad.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hello, honey. My meeting's going to finish up around four so I'll probably pick you up closer to four-thirty instead of five."

"Okay."

Great. Now I have even less time with Reed.

"Where are you right now?" my dad asks.

I told him that Reed and I were going to the movies. We didn't really plan to go there today but I needed an excuse so my dad wouldn't think I was spending the afternoon in Reed's bedroom.

"We're on our way to a restaurant," I say. "Reed's dad is taking us to lunch at some place near the zoo."

"Lilly!" he barks. "I told you to call me if you were going somewhere."

"I thought you were in a meeting."

"It doesn't matter. You still call and tell me."

"It's just lunch. It's not a big deal. And after we eat, we'll go home."

"Lilly, if you are not going to cooperate with my requests, then you will not be going out again."

"Dad, that's crazy. I'm not spending the summer locked up in the house." I feel Reed gently rubbing my hand. He knows I'm upset. My dad's being completely unreasonable and has been all week. He even threatened to take my car away if I didn't tell him where I was going.

"Why is Reed's father home?" he asks. "Or did you make that up? Are you really going to a restaurant or doing something else?"

I sigh. "I'm not lying, Dad. Dean is taking Reed and me to lunch."

"Put him on the phone."

"Who?"

"Reed's father."

I hesitate, then just do it. I hold the phone out over the front seat. "My dad wants to talk to you."

"Oh. All right." Dean seems surprised as he takes the phone. "Hello, Pearce. Forgive me if I've done something I shouldn't have. I just wanted to take the kids out for lunch." He listens, then nods. "Yes, I'd normally be at the office but I took the afternoon off to celebrate. I just found out I got the job I wanted. Executive Vice President of Promotions." He listens again. "Thank you. Yes, it was quite a surprise. Anyway, I felt the need to celebrate by taking Reed and Lilly out. I offered to take them someplace nice but they wanted hamburgers." He laughs and nods. "Yes. I'll make sure we're back by four." He hands me the phone.

"See?" I say to my dad. "I told you I wasn't lying."

"I need to get going, but I want you to promise me you'll tell me if you go anywhere else besides the restaurant. I need to know where you are."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. I will."

"I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you too." I put my phone away, then say to Dean, "Sorry about that. He's a little overprotective."

"I understand." He glances at me in the mirror. "If I had a daughter, I have a feeling I'd be the same way."

"Meaning he doesn't care about protecting me," Reed says, laughing. "Sons are on their own."

His dad shakes his head. "That's not true. I worry about you all the time, but I also know you can fight if necessary."

"Yeah, let's not talk about that," Reed says. Back in high school Reed got arrested for fighting, so it's something he'd rather forget.

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