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“Mom, Heather didn’t do anything wrong.” Christine looked guilty as hell, and I knew she didn’t think about how worried we would be if we discovered her lie. “She… she helped me.”

“What happened?” I asked.

My daughter wouldn’t meet my eyes. She glanced at Heather instead, who gave her an encouraging nod.

What the hell kind of dynamic had they established since last night when she seemed upset just talking about Heather?

“I went to a party,” Christine said in a small voice. “On the beach with some other teenagers. And… there was beer.”

“You were drinking?” Audrey’s voice was back to being shrill.

“I only had one sip, I swear. I didn’t even want it…”

She trailed off and Heather moved closer, placing a hand on her back. “It’s okay. You should tell your parents everything.”

Christine gulped. “It really wasn’t a big deal, but there was this boy, and he was a kinda… flirty.” My blood pressure probably skyrocketed at that. Because there was something about her fidgeting and eyes lowered to the ground that made me think it was more than flirting.

“What did he do?” I growled.

“Nothing! Really, he just… flirted. But I was kinda worried that… let’s just say that I’m glad Heather came along and broke up the party.”

Heather gave her a soft smile that was so maternal that it made my heart skip a beat.

“I’m sorry I so rude to you,” Christine said.

Heather shook her head. “Don’t worry about that at all. Now that you’re safe with your parents, I’m going to go.”

She stepped away, but I moved in closer to her. “Wait. You don’t have to go.”

Her smile was guarded. “Yeah, I do. I have a rehearsal dinner to get to, and you have some stuff to work out as a family.”

“But…”

“Focus on Christine.”

I could tell she was being genuine. She wanted me to focus on Christine because she understood how important my daughter was to me. That kind of thing was exactly why I fell for her.

“Thank you. For helping her.”

“Of course.”

I watched her walk away for a moment. When I turned back to Christine, Audrey was fussing over her, asking a million questions.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” I said.

Ten minutes later, we were all sitting in the living room of my bungalow, listening to Christine tell us everything that happened. Starting with meeting the teenage girl in the game room this evening and being invited to a party. The story ended with Heather safely walking her back to the bungalow.

Audrey and I both listened in silence as she told us about her conversation with Heather, and I could feel myself falling in deeper for her.

“She’s really nice, Dad.”

Audrey looked at me questioningly, and I knew this was the time to tell her.

“Heather and I are seeing each other.”

Emotions flickered across Audrey’s face. Surprise. Anger. Confusion.

“Isn’t she a little young for you?” Her eyebrows furrowed.