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“Nos vemos.” Pippa left without a backwards glance, leading her dog across the street and disappearing into the bookstore.
“Ready to go to Grandpa’s?” Mason asked, getting to his feet.
“Yes. Did you grab my bag?”
“It’s in the truck.” He guided his daughter to where he’d parked and helped her in before going to his side.
After he pulled onto Main Street, he turned the country music down and asked, “What’s a 3C?”
Aspen shrugged. When had his baby girl started pulled away and keeping things from him?
“Come on, sweet pea. You know you can tell me anything.” Why does Pippa know and I don’t?
“It’s Cara, Christie, and Crystal from school. They’re just mean to me sometimes.”
His grip tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “What do you mean they’re mean to you?”
“They call me names or say stuff to hurt my feelings. It’s not a big deal, Dad. Pippa kicked them out of the bookstore the other day. You should have seen their faces.” Aspen laughed.
“Aren’t they on your soccer team?”
“Yeah.”
He’d be having a conversation with their parents at the next game. Nobody messed with his little girl.
“Did you know Pippa makes the art sculptures in the bookstore? She showed me her workroom in the back. It’s so cool. She even has little mice and fairy doors hidden in the shop. Some are in between the books on the shelves. It’s so magical.” Aspen went on about Pippa.
“You really like her,” Mason pointed out.
“She is pretty cool for an adult.”
He chuckled. “Am I not cool?”
She rolled her eyes as she bit back a smile. “You’re alright too, Dad.”
“Just alright? Sort of like my swimming skills?”
She laughed. He lived for these moments—where everything was okay in his world, his daughter was happy and carefree. They’d come further and were fewer between lately. He’d chalked it up to her becoming a teenager, but maybe something bigger was going on.
It seemed the bookstore owner had brought more joy to his daughter’s life in a single afternoon than he’d witnessed all month. Maybe it was time he had a conversation with Pippa—if only talking to her didn’t stir such wild emotions within him.
