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“Becca, this thing between me and your mom—I think you might have the wrong—”
“God, Dad.” Of course he thought this was all about him. She spun to look at him. “Here? Really?”
“Easy,” he said softly, making her realize her voice had risen in pitch. “I’m just trying to talk to you.”
She scowled. “I’m not going to listen to some story about why you screwed over my mother. And me, for that matter. In the middle of the mall or otherwise.”
He drew back, putting distance between them. “Loud and clear, Becca.”
She’d pushed too far. She could read it on his face, the steady tension that made his eyes hard while he studied the wall behind the cash registers. He didn’t say anything further, and her comment hung in the air between them.
Not like she’d take it back.
But now she squirmed while he stood like a statue, waiting for the guy to return to the counter. When her dad ran his card through the machine, she swallowed, watching the triple-digit number flash on the register.
She jerked her eyes away and took the phone from the salesman, burying it in her sweatshirt pocket, running her thumb over the smooth newness of the keys.
They made it all the way out of the store before she chanced a look up at her father.
“Thanks,” she said, and her voice was soft in the general cacophony of the crowded mall aisle.
“You’re welcome.” He didn’t look at her, but some of that tension seemed to have dissipated. “Rocky Run for lunch?”
His voice seemed uncertain again, like maybe he suspected she’d bail on his earlier lunch invitation.
Becca tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded. “Okay.”
There was a wait, of course. But it wasn’t too long, and she sat next to him on the vinyl bench outside the restaurant while some grade school kids roughhoused across the aisle.
Her dad didn’t offer any conversation, and she wondered if he felt as awkward about this as she did.
She let her mind wander, running her eyes along the storefronts down the way. The jewelry store made her think of Hunter, and she absently ran her fingers over the stones still strapped to her wrist, hidden under the sleeve of her hoodie. The music store near the corner was almost empty, since no one bothered to buy CDs anymore. Forever 21 was blasting some R&B song with a heavy beat. Girls were streaming out the door, laden with bags, laughing and giggling and heading this way.
Then she recognized one of them. Lilah.
Seth’s girlfriend.
Her brain kicked into high gear, trying to keep up with the sudden spike in her heart rate. She felt hot, panicked. Was Seth with her? No, it was just girls. But Lilah would recognize her, right? Were Seth and Tyler here, in the mall?
“Becca?”
Her dad’s voice, and it sounded like he’d called her name more than once. She had to pry her gaze off the girls to look back at him.
He glanced down at the bench, then back at her face. “You okay?”
She followed his gaze. She’d grabbed his hand without realizing it.
Don’t be such a baby. She snatched it out of his grip and swiped her palm on her jeans.
The girls were almost beside them, and she looked down at her knees, letting her hair fall across her face. Her shoulders tightened. They’d see her. They’d have to see her.
They didn’t see her.
But they walked up to the hostess to ask for a table in the restaurant.
Her dad leaned in. “Becca?”
“Yeah.” She swallowed. “I don’t want to have lunch here.”
