Page 162 of Bookworm

"I made it."

"She made one for me too," Scarlett said as she came into the room and did a twirl. "My big sister is the best. Period."

"Scarlett, wow." Dad got to his feet and shook his head. "How did my girls grow up so fast?"

We just smiled at him.

"You know you can tell me anything," he said. "Right?"

"Of course," I said, and Scarlett nodded.

"You'll both be safe tonight."

"It's a library charity event, Dad," Scarlett said. "I think we'll be fine."

He gave a nod then looked to me. "Are you getting picked up? Any dates I need to meet?"

"No," I said with a chuckle. "Why would you say that?"

"Ah, I don't know," he said. "Maybe because I happened to look out my window the other night and noticed Bo Stryker jogging back to his house. Looked like he was coming from your window, Charlotte."

Scarlett choked back a giggle then excused herself.

"It's not what you think, Dad," I said quickly. "He was just saying goodnight."

"After midnight?" he asked.

"Yeah…"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, at this point, I have no idea. We've gone from fake to real to I'm-not-sure-what-to-think so many times. But I hope he will be."

"Do I even want to know?" Dad asked. After a second, he sighed. "Listen, I'll probably never be okay with you or your sister dating. Maybe if you started when you're 30. But I see now, that might've been wishful thinking."

I thought he was joking, but he didn't smile.

"I just wish you would've told me."

I gave a shrug. "I'm telling you now."

"Guess if you have to date," he muttered, "you could do worse than the Stryker kid."

"Really?" I asked.

Dad gave a nod. "Yeah, he's alright. Good family, good kid as far as I can see,kind of grouchy. Hedoesn't smile much, but I guess you do that enough for the both of you."

I laughed. "I've learned that he's part grouch, part marshmallow, so it's all good."

"No idea what that means," he said then pointed at me. "You'll tell me if he ever does anything to hurt you."

"Okay."

"And he's coming to dinner, so we can have the talk."

I opened my mouth, but Dad's look silenced me.

"No talk, no date," he said.

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