Page 42 of Friends to WHAT?!

Amia does as bid, eliciting a small squeak from me when she gets closer than expected to deliver her apology. Joyfully, she proclaims, “I’m sorry I broke the rules to come and see you! It was mean and inconsiderate to drag you into the middle of me breaking the rules. Will you please forgive me?”

If I’ve ever seen a less desolate child, I do not know where or when.

“I forgive you,” I say, stepping to the side so she can pass by without having to touch me.

“Thanks!” she says, then turns to her dad. “I’ll get the granola!” She rockets off, sliding to a stop at the very end of the aisle.

Wolfe sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says at the same time that I blurt the words myself. His brows furrow. “You’re sorry?” he asks. “What would you need to be sorry about?”

“For meeting Amia,” I reply readily. “For being in her presence without your express permission. For putting my hands on her shoulders. For walking silently around the store to find you instead of yelling our location so you could get to us faster.” For anything and everything that might get me arrested without Wolfe in my life anymore to send me letters before my eventual stabbing.

His eyes soften on me. “None of that is your fault,” he says gently. “You don’t control my child or what she chooses to do. Amia knows the rules, and she broke them, and you’re a casualty in that. I apologize that I wasn’t watching her well enough to enforce the rules, making it possible for you tobecomethat casualty.”

I wince. “I really am sorry, though. She’s your daughter, and I’m sure you don’t want her off with someone you barely know in real life. Normally if I see her in public, I avoid, avoid, avoid. I try to schedule myself around avoiding you and her, honestly. That’s why I’m at the grocery store on a Saturday. You guys shop on Sundays. It’s supposed to be safe.”

“Leora, it’s okay,” he says. “When you told me you like boundaries being crossed, I know you didn’t mean anything like this. I don’t…” He bites his lip, glancing at Amia before he steps closer and lowers his voice. “I don’t even really care that you two have met. I’d love nothing more than for us to be at the point where you’ve more than just met her, but instead are used to being around her. I can’t set anything up like that right now, because we do have rules to follow in regards to this sort of thing. You may be known to her, but you’re notknownto her, you know? And our rule is that I need to be around any new person in our lives at least three times without her beforethey can be around her in any sort of larger capacity. It’s a little different with friend’s parents and stuff. Sometimes it can get muddy, or there are circumstances where it just straight doesn’t work at all, but for the most part, we follow that rule, and it’s proven to be the right decision more than once.” He checks to make sure Amia isn’t watching, then shifts so that if shedoeslook over, she won’t see it when he engulfs my hand in his and squishes reassuringly before letting it go. “We’ve only had two hang outs in real life, which means it’s not time yet, but I also am not worried about a grocery store run-in. What Iamworried about is her breaking rules and potentially putting herself in an unsafe situation, because you’re not the only person in this grocery store, and no matter how small this town is, we don’t actually know everyone in it.”

I’m gawking. I know for sure that I’m gawking, but I can’t help it.

Competent, protective dad Wolfe ishot.

“Stars,” I whisper, holding the hand that he squeezed over my heart. “You’re such a good dad.”

His skin reddens. “What a thing to say to a man who lost his daughter not even five minutes ago.”

“You didn’t lose her,” I protest. “She ran away. That’s way different, and it’s very clear that her well-being is of the utmost importance to you.”

He frowns. “It is, but–”

“But nothing. It is, and thus you’re a good dad. I’ve written to you about my dad. You know what I have to compare to, and you know that I know exactly what she could be subjected to. You’ll not change my mind about this. Take the compliment.”

He stares at me for seconds that feel like hours, and I see the exact moment he decides to heed my words, take my compliment, and let it fester warmly inside of him. “Okay, mystarling,” he mutters. “I’ll let you think well of me. I suppose. If I have to.”

I lift my nose in the air. “Good.”

Amia, both arms loaded up with bags of granola, heads back toward us.

I, reasonably, panic.

“That’s my cue!” I declare. “I will be in the fruit section. Then the pasta section. Then, probably, the frozen pizza section. Take heed.”

Then, without waiting for a response, I book it out of the aisle, going the opposite way of Amia’s approach.

I don’ttotallyavoid them for the rest of my shopping, but I do my best, even though it becomes clear thattheyaren’t avoidingme. Whenever we cross path’s, Wolfe meets my eyes and smiles, a sweet, amused tip of his lips. Amia waves, big and obnoxious and adorable.

My heart ties itself in knots at the clear adoration I receive, from both father and daughter. Their eyes shine with love, and their smiles with affection.

In the freezer aisle, I let some of my own shine back at them, and when Amia gives her biggest wave yet, I wave back.

Chapter Twenty

?

Don’t worry about Warren… yet.

Wolfe

I received a letter from Leora this morning.