Zoe merely shook her head. “I’m not having this discussion with you now. You’ve got to lighten up.”
Sami cocked her head at her father. The glint in her eyes told me she was about to make things worse. “Didn’t Mom have a boyfriend before you?”
“No,” Aric stated firmly. “I’m the only man she’s ever deigned to spend her time with.”
“Right.” Sami shot me a look that had me biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “I know Mom had a boyfriend because you call him names, like Will the Weasel and Will the Impotent. I looked up that last one by the way, and it triggered the child internet locks you guys insist on keeping.”
Zoe’s smile was smug. “You’re the one who wanted to teach her to talk.”
Aric jabbed a finger at his wife but kept his eyes on his daughter. “You need to stop eavesdropping outside our bedroom. I guarantee I didn’t say that anywhere near your vicinity.”
“Whatever, Dad. You’re telling lies and twisting things. I’m plenty old enough to have a boyfriend. Mom and I have talked about it. You’re just going to have to get over it.”
Aric slowly tracked his eyes to his wife. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Slowing his pace, Gunner moved closer to me and slung his arm around my shoulders. “You’re starting to re-think that future family adventure thing, aren’t you?”
Actually, I was thinking the exact opposite. “I bet this is how it is with most normal families, ones where little kids aren’t abandoned in the middle of nowhere.”
His eyes were soft when they locked with mine. “Actually, it is. The years between twelve and fifteen are notoriously bad, though.”
“I like it.”
He grinned. “I kind of like it, too.”
In front of us, Aric grabbed Sami around the waist and scooped her up.
“What are you doing?” Sami complained loudly. “I’m fourteen. I can walk by myself.”
“Until you agree I’m the smartest man in the world, and master of your destiny, I’m going to carry you around like a baby,” Aric threatened. “I mean it.”
Sami was incensed. “You can’t carry me around for the rest of my life.”
“Try me.”
“Mom!” Sami shrieked in outrage.
“What do you want me to do, Sami?” Zoe asked. “It’s not like he’s trying to burp you or anything. I can’t step in until that becomes a legitimate possibility.”
“Omigod!”
The racket Sami was making was loud enough to draw attention from the back patio and Raisin was wide-eyed when she skirted around the side of the building and found another child close to her age, something she wasn’t used to on the premises.
“Who is she?” Raisin asked, curious.
“The worst kid ever,” Aric replied, his eyes drifting to Raisin. “Who are you?”
“This is Raisin.” I made quick introductions. “She’s kind of the group mascot.”
Raisin shot me a dirty look. “Leader. I’m the group leader.”
That made Aric laugh as he shifted to drop Sami to her feet. “Ah, another one. This should be fun.”
The two teenagers eyed each other for what felt like forever. Sami was the first to speak.
“Are there hot guys back there?” She inclined her head toward the back of the building.
Raisin shook her head. “He’s the only hot guy here.” She jerked her thumb toward Gunner, although her eyes drifted to Aric. “Until now.”
“Don’t be gross,” Sami griped, falling into step with her new friend. “He’s my dad and dads can’t be hot.”
“True story.” The girls started chatting and fell into step together. “Doc is kind of good looking, although in a nerdy way.”
“I like nerds,” Sami said. “They’re cool, although not as cool as Scottish guys. Have you seen Outlander?”
Aric rolled his eyes until they landed on his wife. “I’m never going to survive the next few years. My heart is going to break.”
Zoe patted his arm soothingly. “Once she goes to college, we’ll be able to reintroduce naked Mondays ... and Wednesdays ... and Fridays. There are trade-offs to this growing-up thing.”
Aric brightened. “You have a point. She’s still not dating until she’s forty.”
“Yeah. Good luck with that.”
Eleven
In the end, Zoe and Aric liked Bonnie enough to trust Sami with her. Bonnie promised to guard the mouthy teenager with her life, suggesting a movie night with Raisin as a form of entertainment. Sami had eagerly agreed, as long as the woman with the weird eyebrow — singular — wasn’t around.
“She freaks me out,” Sami explained as Aric and Zoe prepared to say goodbye to their daughter.
“One eyebrow is definitely something to be suspicious about,” Zoe agreed, smoothing Sami’s hair. She appeared nervous. “You need to be good for Bonnie, okay? Do what she says.”
Sami had being a teenager down pat because the face she graced her mother with was right out of a Nickelodeon show. “I’ll be good. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Zoe didn’t look convinced. “You remember the plan, right?”
Sami balked. “I’m not going to need to worry about the plan.”
Zoe grabbed Sami by the shoulders and forced the teenager to meet her gaze. “You remember the plan, right?”
Sami glanced at her father and sighed upon finding no respite there. “I remember. If you don’t come back and I don’t hear from you then I’m to go to Aunt Paris. But that’s not going to be necessary.”
“I hope not,” Zoe agreed. “Go to Paris instead of your grandparents.” She was deadly serious. “I know you’re going to want them, but that’s where people will expect you to go. Go to Paris and she’ll take care of your grandparents, make sure you reunite. Those people she’s with ... they’re strong. They’ll protect you.”
Fire kindled in the depths of Sami’s eyes. “You’ll protect me.” She seemed to remember who she was after the fact. “Actually, I’ll protect myself. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“It’s our job to worry about you,” Aric cut in, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his daughter’s head. “Do as your mother says. Things will be fine, but in case they’re not, you can’t
