Page 28 of Mind Blowing

She nodded. “Yeah.” She was embarrassed she kept touching her stomach today, and that he kept catching her do it. “Nerves.” She sighed, dropping her hand to her side, her fingers brushing her thigh where her shorts stopped.

Her father hated those shorts, he said they were too trashy, showed too much skin. Ugh. Her father. “I need to call my parents.” She’d been dreading this moment from themomentJasper had told her the test was positive. Speaking to her dad, hearing his voice,andlying to him…If Jasper was larger than life, her dad was his own galaxy and he demanded everyone rotate intheparticular orbithe assigned. His expectations were higher than high,andhis moralswere etched in granite.

“Do you want me to wait in the hall? I can go load the truck, give you some privacy.”He picked up two boxes in one hand and then used the other to sling her duffle over her shoulder.

Her breath left her in an audible sigh. He was perfection,hist-shirt stretched tight around his biceps, his muscles working overtime to help her.

Was there anything more appealing?Were these observations no more thanpregnancy hormones? She couldn’t remember ever feeling so physically attracted to another human in her life.

This wasn’t her. This drooling, wanton mess.

“Uh, yes, um sure. That would be good, thank you.” She grabbed her phone from her now-empty desk, smashing it in between her palms and twisting them nervously.

Jasper crossed her room in three strides, using his foot to pull the door all the way open. “I’ll be right outside if you need me, okay?” He waited for her to nod. “Callahan, this has nothing to do with them, remember that. We can handle this. We’vegot this. They don’t get to tell us what to choose.”

She nodded again, her stomachturning overwith worry and guilt.

She waited for him to step into the hall, his parting words giving her the strength and push she needed to make the call.

“Good morning, Callahan.”

Her worry turned to actual dread at the sound of her father’s stern voice. Hermomentary strength entirely fleeting, like a hummingbird darting away so fast you almost missed it. “Morning, Dad.”

“Are you all packed? I have some things to do at the office, but I should be in Greenly by five.”

She took a deep breath, steeling herself, filling her lungs to capacity. “Actually, I was calling to see how you felt about a mission opportunity I was given yesterday.” She covered half the phone, letting out that big breath.

“Mission?”

Mission. A beautiful word to parents like hers. Serving others while preaching about the lord:the perfect activity for a young girl. Heaven forbid she help others simply to help, no attempt at conversion necessary. “Yes. A friend of mine, Blake—”

“A boy?”

She closed her eyes, shaking her head at the instant thread of disdain in his tone. He saidboylike it was a curse word. “No, Blake is a girl.” She licked her lips, hoping she could sell this the way she needed to. “Her family puts on a free health clinic for kids during the summer. She’s invited me to come and help for a month or so. I would love the opportunity, of course, but I wanted to see what you thought.”

In order to get her father to agree to anything that wasn’t his idea, she had to approach it carefully.Slipping it in fromthe side in a way that made him feel fully in control of the situation and her life.She and hermother were living in the universe he’d created for them and his parishioners. She wasn’t deceitful; she’d simply learned how to survive as her father’s child.

“Where will you stay? How long?”

At least he didn’t ask if Blake’s parents would be there to make sure she went to bed at the correct time. Her father’s leash was short.

“I’ll stay with her family, and it’s for the whole summer. They’ve offered to store my things for me. I can ride home with her today. Theclinic starts on Monday. She’s from Haxton. Asmall town.”

“I know Haxton.” He paused. “There’s a boys’ school there.”

Was he worried she’d spend the summer getting into trouble with high school boys? If only he knew of the lust-filled thoughts she was currently having about a boy who was becoming a manbefore her eyes.

She stepped to her window, peeking between the blinds to watch Jasperrearrangeher stuff in the bed of his truck. He leapt up on the tailgate in one smooth motion, those biceps pushing at the confinement of his sleeves.

“Callahan, are you listening to me?”

“Yes,sir.” She stepped away, letting the blinds audibly snap back into place. “There is a boys’ school there, butthey’reout for the summer,of course.”

“Your mother will be disappointed she won’t see you. She’sbeen looking forward to you coming home.” Her father’s tone softened when he mentioned her mother. He loved her, that was clear as day. He was a better husband than he was a father. It was almost like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with a daughter. “It sounds like a great opportunity though, a great way to spend your free months.”

“You think so?” This was the key to dealing with her father. This was the pivotal moment where she turned it around to make it sound like his idea. “I don’t know though.I do miss Mom and—”

“No,Callahan. Thereis no better way to spend your free time than serving others and spreading the word of Christ. You have a whole summer off, and idle hands are the devil’s workshop, you know that.” He paused again, the sound of papers shuffling coming across the line. “You need to do this.I insist.” She couldn’t help rolling her eyes at how predictable he was. “I’ll make sure there is enough money in your account to get you through the summer. Yourmother and I will come visit as soon as you get back to Greenly.”

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