My face scrunched, and I leaned in closer. “Are you wearing lipstick?” I double-blinked and turned toward Charles. “Can she do that?”
“Yeah. She’s a teenager now.”
So? She’s still a damn baby in my eyes.
Sarah grabbed a plate and sat down next to me because that was her normal spot. She was wearing skinny jeans and a sleeveless black top with some teenage band I didn’t recognize on the front. It was sixty outside, not ninety.
“Where are you going?” I tried to keep my tone even, noting her dangling earrings. My shoulders tightened.
“Out with friends.”
“Macy and Caroline?” I pressed.
Sarah twirled pasta around her fork. “Yep, they’ll be there.”
Was it me, or did her voice soften at the end, as though she wasn’t going to elaborate further?
“Who else is going with you guys?” I pushed around the pasta on my plate and shoved it in my mouth like it was a chore, my appetite now long gone.
“And Liam,” Mary teased.
“Mary, you’re so annoying,” Sarah shot back.
Liam?
Brad piped in, “Okay, stalker-slash-wannabe-Sarah’s-dad, there will be boys there. Chris, Gerard, and Liam.”
He leaned back on his chair, this smug look on his face. “Charles already asked her, and Sarah gave us the details earlier, so calm your panties.”
I looked around at the table, their eyes watching for my reaction.
Keep it cool. Keep it cool. If their dad is cool with it, shouldn’t I be too?
I frowned. Coolness all gone. “No one mentioned this to me. Have we even met these guys?” I turned toward Charles. “Are you letting her go?”
Seriously, she was thirteen. Did he forget what it was like to be a hormonal thirteen-year-old boy, walking around with a hard-on all the time?
Charles reeled back, looking offended. Why? ’Cause I was questioning his judgment, which was poor on his part.
“She’s going. I’m dropping her off later. Now, can we all eat?” Charles grunted, done with the conversation.
“I don’t know about this.” My gaze traveled up and down the table, but no one seemed to be on my side here.
When were they ever?
One may think that I was overly protective, and maybe I was. But we’d helped raise these girls when their mother died. I still remembered the time that Sarah fell off of her bike on my watch and needed stitches. I’d held her down as the nurse stitched up her eyebrow, listening to her heightened cries and feeling as though the needle was piercing my own skin.
I shoved food in my mouth, chewing and watching Sarah eat beside me. Her eyes were outlined with some sort of black liner, and she had blush on. Blush! She was a baby, wearing blush.
“Are you sure they won’t need a chaperone?” I asked, my tone grumpy.
“Dad!” Sarah complained. “I don’t need a chaperone.”
“Mason, eat your food,” Charles deadpanned.
I shook my head, not happy about this at all. Something must’ve been in the water because my family was not thinking.
“Well, have fun,” I offered begrudgingly. “What time are you going?”
“After lunch.” She smiled.
A sweet smile. A smile that every teenage boy would fall over and have nasty dreams about.
Internally, I groaned. I was not letting this go, but I smiled back. Because I had plans of my own.
It was a triple date. Because there was Macy and Caroline and my Sarah. And there was Larry, Moe, and Curly.
Yes, I’d followed Charles. Yes, I was a stalker-slash-wannabe-Sarah’s-dad. Why? ’Cause I loved her. I had watched this girl grow up, lose her mom, go through every change from infancy to grade school to now. She’d even become my confidant in all things—even Janice things.
So, would I protect her until my dying breath? Hell yeah. And from hormonal teenage boys too.
I walked at a slow pace, to the right of them. There was no way I could be seen. I was wearing a Cubs baseball cap. Ask me if I’d ever been seen wearing a baseball cap. Ask me if I’d ever been to a Cubs game. Did I look like Brad?
When they entered the pizza joint at the end of the indoor mall—Jack’s Pizza Place—I groaned. Now what? There was no way I could get a table without being seen. Maybe I should just call it quits. Yeah. No way in hell.
I walked right by the tinted glass window. I could see the taller guy lean into Sarah and whisper something in her ear. Sarah let out a peal of laughter and covered her mouth. She held her stomach, and when her eyes met Mr. Tall Guy, the fit of laughing began again.
I swore I’d have premature gray before this was all over.
My whole body tensed as they followed the hostess all the way inside until they disappeared around the corner.
I removed my hat and scratched my head.
Now, what the hell?
No, not what. How?
How could I get in there without being seen?
I swallowed hard. I’d just have to risk it. There was no other way.
I placed my hat back on my head, tipped it low, and entered Jack’s Pizza Place. The scent of spices and cheese and tomatoes made my stomach grumble, but I ignored it and concentrated on making it to a table without being seen. We’d just eaten two hours ago. How is she eating again?
“Dining in, sir?”
I jumped when the teenage girl with the pixie cut approached me from behind.
I hadn’t seen her because I was too busy trying to peek around the corner. She held a menu in her hands, giving me a quizzical look.
“Yeah.” I lowered my chin to my chest.
“Sorry? Are you dining in?” she repeated.
I cleared my throat and coughed. “Yeah, dining in.”
“So, for one?”
Did she see anyone else by me? Shit.
I threw her a look, but a not-so-nice one. “Yes, one.”
I peeked up to see if I could spot Sarah. I followed the waitress past a chalkboard with the pizza specials written in all colors of chalk. This restaurant was one big square. There was no way I could miss her. I noticed her in the far corner. But then the hostess started beelining straight to my niece.
Sweat formed at my brow, and I tried to catch the hostess. “Excuse me, miss?”
I discreetly tried to get her attention, but she was walking too fast in front of me. Short little thing must have been on crack or something.
The hostess placed my menu on the table right by Sarah. Thankfully, my niece was facing the opposite direction.
“Here you go,” the hostess said politely.
But I walked straight past her. “Restroom,” I coughed out.
“I like that shirt,” Tall Boy said to my niece.
I cringed. I knew what he was really thinking. He liked that shirt but would rather have it off.
I circled the restaurant and went to the front, right by the hostess. She probably was thinking that was the fastest restroom break known to man.
“Hey. I’m going to take the table right there.” I pointed to the table in the opposite corner of the room but where Sarah was in plain sight. It was behind another row of booths, so there was no way she’d see me.
The hostess narrowed her eyes and peered behind me at the table she’d placed my menu. “Okay, sure. No problem. Here’s another menu.”