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And here Birdie was concerned about Oliver Sanderson. His daughter wasn’t interested in boys, she was interested in exploring her spiritual side.
Then, she disavowed him of the notion. “Afterward, teens get together and discuss things… like life and dating and stuff.”
He walked into the kitchen to get a bottled water from the fridge. “We can go to church. How’d you find out about all this?”
Guzzling the water, he paid close attention to her expression.
“Some kid told me.”
Some kid. When was she around kids?
“Oh, yeah? Who’s that?”
She paused. “His name’s Oliver.”
“Oliver Sanderson?”
Her head popped up from her screen. “You know him?”
He knew the little shit. He nodded. “I know Oliver.”
“What do you know about him?”
Crossroads.
That’s where he was at. Staring at one road where he told the truth of what he had always known about the boy, or the other one, where he manipulated the information so she might be less than interested in the little pervert.
He set the bottle of water on the counter, considering which way to turn, which road to take.
He got ahold of himself.
Lying to Mia, on any level, wasn’t right. Period.
“He’s a menace. Bad seed. Trouble with a capital T,” he forced out, feeling as if the words were giving him heartburn.
Crap.
She jumped to her knees on the couch, facing him, eager for more information. “What do you mean? What has he done to make you think that?”
This is why you should never lie. It only led to more lies. Worse ones. “So we’re clear, are you asking to go to church to be closer to Jesus, or to Oliver?”
She began to chew her bottom lip, just like her mother did when faced with being honest or working through how to deftly massage the information to her benefit.
Wait, didn’t he just do that? Didn’t he just go through that exercise a moment ago?
Yep, his daughter was definitely staring down a crossroads. Which road would she take? Would she admit to being interested in Oliver or continue down this transparent deception of a spiritual calling?
He watched her and, for the first time since she’d arrived, Mia looked fourteen on the verge of turning fifteen.
It kind of pissed him off. Didn’t seem quite fair that he had just found out he had a daughter, missing all of those sweet, innocent years and was instead, thrown into the deep end with one well into her teens and discovering boys.
It could be worse. According to the horror stories he heard from some of his friends with teenage kids, she could be working her way through Pornhub instead of googling vows on remaining chaste.
“Both, maybe?” she responded thoughtfully.
Well, that was… honest.
“You don’t seem sure.”
