Emily nodded before turning the key in the lock and letting herself into the house. I watched with a big grin on my face as she turned to close the door.
“I’ll pick you up at 5!” I shouted, just before she closed the door. When I returned to the truck, Nina flashed me a big grin and two thumbs up.
“Way to go, Dad!” she cheered, as she climbed over the backseat and took her place in the passenger seat. “Let’s rock and roll!”
Chapter Thirty
Emily
The next afternoon, I spent a long time getting ready for my date with Blake and his family. I pulled everything out of KO’s closet trying to find something decent to wear. I passed on the T-shirts with obscene sayings on them in favor of a fluffy pink angora sweater that KO had shoved in the back of her closet. I paired the sweater with the
new jeans I’d bought after the fire and a pair of black leather boots. The effect was a juxtaposition of innocence and danger.
I’d just finished brushing out my hair when I heard a knock on the front door, followed by the sound of it opening.
“Emily? Are you here?” Nina called as she entered the house.
“In the back bathroom finishing up!” I called back as I dabbed a little more lipstick on my lips and smacked them together to set it. I took a last look at myself in the mirror and smiled, “Perfect.”
“Oh, you look good!” Nina exclaimed as I emerged from the bedroom. “You look really good, Emily!”
“Why thank you,” I smiled. I headed to the kitchen calling, “Howard! Dinner!”
“Where is the little rascal?” Nina asked, as she looked around the living room for the ball of orange fluff that was my cat. I guessed she’d found him when I heard her holler, “Ouch! Bad kitty!”
“Howard, what are you doing to Nina?” I yelled, as I dumped his food into his bowl and then reached for his water bowl.
“He smacked me!” Nina said, as she came into the kitchen holding one hand with the other. “I was petting him, and he just reached out and smacked me with his claws.”
“He’s kind of a jerk that way,” I said, pulling her hand away from the injured one and taking a look at the scratches. Howard had left his mark, but it didn’t look too serious. I cleaned the wounds with warm water and soap and then put a bandage over them. “That should be okay; I don’t think there will be lasting damage.”
“What a jerk,” Nina muttered, as she perched on the stool and watched Howard eat his dinner. “Boys.”
“They’re not all jerks,” I laughed, as I checked my purse to make sure I had everything I needed. “Your dad’s a good one.”
“Yeah, but I can’t date my dad,” she grumbled. I sensed that something else was going on, but I didn’t know if I should pry.
“I take it you know one of these jerk boys?” I said in as off-handed a manner as I could muster.
“Yeah,” she muttered. There was a long pause before she spoke again. “Emily, why do boys say they like you in private and then act like they hate you around their friends?”
“Ahhh, the age old question,” I said, nodding. “I think your dad would be much better able to answer that question, don’t you?”
“No. He’d just want to go after the guy and beat him up,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want my dad anywhere near my love life.”
“He lets you near his,” I said, trying to encourage her to talk to Blake without sounding overly adult.
“Yeah, but that’s totally different,” she said. “I’m the kid. I have no say in what he does. Plus, I like you.”
“You don’t think he’ll like the boy you like?” I asked, wondering which boy it was.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll hate him,” she sighed. “He hates everyone I like.”
“I don’t think he hates everyone,” I said sympathetically. “I think he’s just protective of his daughter.”
“Try overprotective,” she sighed again. We were interrupted by an impatient blast from Blake’s horn. Nina looked out the kitchen window and said, “We’d better go. Dad’s getting impatient.”
“What took you girls so long?” Blake asked, as we climbed into the truck.