Page 26 of War Games

“I think my dad will really like this one,” she said, pointing at the menu for the server. He had no idea which item she was pointing at and didn’t care. He would eat anything she picked out for him. It would make the meal special even if he didn’t like the taste.

“Sir?” The server looked at him, batting her eyelashes in that flirtatious way that told him this young woman didn’t know who he was, only seeing the attractive man with his daughter, who should seem too old to be his daughter now. With no wife or girlfriend in sight, she saw someone she could flirt with, maybe for a better tip or maybe for an exchange of numbers.

Perhaps we should have made the drive to Dallas. Any of the restaurants I used to frequent there would have made sure to tell their new staff not to try flirting with me when I wanted to enjoy my meal.

“My daughter knows what I like and don’t,” he said simply, shrugging a shoulder to make sure the server knew he truly didn’t care what his daughter was picking or how much it cost. “I’m sure whatever it is will be wonderful.”

“We also want this for dessert,” Carey continued, pointing at something else on the next page of the menu. “And this. We’ll split them both.”

“Oh, okay,” the server, whose name tag said Natalie, looked back down at what Carey was making him pay for and wrote both of those down. “Sir? Is there anything you would like to add?”

“My daughter’s choices will be fine,” Heath said softly, not missing how Carey rolled her eyes at Natalie, who he was certain introduced herself while he had been thinking of other things and missed it. “Before you go, I would like to ask about the status of our drinks. Another server took that order when we sat down.” He knew Carey wouldn’t ask to avoid any conflict with a random server, but he was parched.

“Of course, I’ll check on them.” Her beaming smile wasn’t what he had been going for. He had no problem with being nice to the staff. He always wanted to be.

I don’t want them to think I’m going to engage with the flirting…

“Let me take these menus, and I’ll be right back,” Natalie said, practically bouncing as she grabbed the menus and walked away.

“You okay, Dad?” Carey asked.

“I’m going to need you to do all the talking today,” he said, not giving her a full answer.

“Yeah, I was trying. You made eye contact with her and now look at what we have to deal with.” Carey rolled her eyes again. “You probably weren’t even thinking when you asked about the drinks.”

“I wasn’t,” he admitted. “I’m thirsty, and I know you don’t enjoy the conflict.”

“Where did you get that idea?” Carey said, the scent of her confusion filling the air around him. “I broke a girl’s nose once.”

“Would you have asked about our drinks before the food arrived?” he countered.

“No…” Carey looked away.

“Exactly.” He smiled, knowing his daughter well enough to know the difference between punching a girl for insulting the family and asking about drinks. It was a small thing to ask about drinks, but it was a thing. With the way Natalie was already behaving and his sense of smell, he knew Carey was already annoyed. He had to mention twice that he was okay with whatever Carey was picking out. He was okay with someone getting that clarification once. Needing to deal with it twice was a message. Carey was sixteen now. She was old enough to make these choices and have some control. He was giving her the space to do that. Every time someone wanted to defer to him, they counteracted the lessons he was trying to let her learn.

When their drinks arrived, Natalie was carrying them. She also brought their appetizer shortly after that. Each time she showed up at the table, she was doing those things—tucking her hair back, smiling at him, ignoring his daughter.

“How are you enjoying your food?” she asked him, and he looked at Carey.

“My daughter chose well,” he finally said, as Carey remained silent, glaring at the young woman.

“When you’re done with the appetizer, please wave me down and I’ll clear it for you,” she said, smiling at him still, not glancing in Carey’s direction at all.

When she was gone, he realized he was in the middle of a war zone. Carey went from annoyed to pissed.

I guess now is the time for Carey to learn how to step up in this situation. Great. Just how I wanted to spend my Sunday night.

The rest of their food arrived, and once again, Natalie continued to pay more attention to him than Carey. She didn’t speak up once again, and he wondered if she ever would, but he wouldn’t call her out at the table where others could hear. They could talk in the truck about it. He kept his answers short, always giving Carey the credit for her choices about their meal.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked him as dessert was placed in front of them. Standing toward his side of the table, she turned in a way that implied she forgot Carey was even at the table with him.

“No, we’re fine,” Carey said before he could open his mouth. “And when you bring the check, the person paying is over here. You can go get it now. We won’t be having anything else after dessert.”

It was a struggle, but Heath controlled his expression and kept his mouth shut, wanting to see how this played out.

“I’ll get that for you,” Natalie said quickly, walking away fast.

Carey sat silently and started eating her dessert, and Heath tried to eat his own. It was sweet enough to make him slightly ill after only a few bites, and he saw Carey push her own away, only half eaten. The rest of the food had been good, better than he expected at the price point. The desserts were too much, not only for him but also for his human daughter, which was hard to do.

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