He laughed sheepishly. “Pretty much and everywhere else too.”
“She must like that.”
“It’s mainly for me. I get an eye roll for everything I do these days.”
“Andrew was horrified by having parents at that age. I think he preferred to believe he sprung from a rock.”
Glenn chuckled. “He seems like a good kid now.”
She looked toward the house, where Andrew and her father had gained the porch. “He is a good kid, just in some trouble at the moment.”
“You mentioned he got suspended,” Glenn said cautiously.
She sighed, debating how much to say. “A friend of his got badly hurt at a frat party. Fell and hit his head. They were all drinking, of course. Andrew’s pretty shaken up, as he should be. But now he doesn’t want to go back to school.” Besides Phil, she hadn’t told anyone about this yet, not even Shelly. She wasn’tsure why she was confiding in Glenn, except he had a calm, nonjudgmental way about him.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure what I can do, but I worry about him leaving school.”
“Maybe it’s better if he takes some time, gets his head straight.”
“You might be right.”
“I’m not looking forward to the teenage years,” he admitted.
“They’ll be here before you know it.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “You’ll be fine. You seem like a good dad.”
“I don’t know, I hope so.
“I just meant, you know, you light up when you talk about her.” She was making it worse; he was practically fidgeting. But it was true. He was clearly devoted to Lilah.
His face clouded. “Her mom just had her for four days.”
“Oh. I thought her mom wasn’t in the picture.”
“She isn’t, I mean she wasn’t.” He fiddled with the roll of paper towels he was still holding. “She took Lilah to Vermont to see her mother, Lilah’s grandmother.”
“That sounds sudden.”
He looked deeply unhappy. “She reappeared after four years, but that’s how she is.”
“Four years is a long time.” She tried not to show her shock. Butfouryears. “How did Lilah feel about it,” she couldn’t help asking, “her showing up after all that time?”
He shrugged. “It’s her mom. She wanted to go, but I worry she’s going to get hurt if Sophie flakes out again.”
Sophie.So that was the ex’s name. Probably drop-dead gorgeous judging by the daughter. She wondered if Glenn was still a little in love with her. “You make flaking out sound like a sure thing.”
“I hope not for Lilah’s sake, but her mother doesn’t have a good track record.”
She felt sorry the way he said it, how things must be for Lilah. A twelve-year-old girl with a truant for a mother. “Must have been pretty quiet around your house the last few days.”
“You could say that. At least she’s back now.” The relief in his voice was unmistakable. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to go on.” He looked like he wanted to change the subject. “I better get going.”
She felt a twinge of disappointment. This was the most he’d spoken since she met him, and she wanted to keep him there talking. Find out what happened with his marriage and everything else about him. He was a reserved guy, but she sensed something solid underneath. And it didn’t hurt that he was nice to look at too. But she had a meeting in an hour, and he was talked out anyway.
“Thanks again for the honey,” she said.
“Anytime. I’ll come by later this week and check on those mites.”
