“Peanuts are not nuts, they’re legumes,” Lenni said.“Add that to the list of things that say they’re one thing but are actually another.”
“Smart cookie,” Archer said.
Lenni headed for the stairs but at the last moment she stopped and looked at her father.“When can I get my ears pierced?”
“Oh God,” Archer choked out.
“Summer hasherears pierced,” Lenni said, mentioning her new school bestie.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Archer announced.“Don’t you have that project to look over?”
“Mom would always say the same thing,” she grumbled.“And then we wouldn’t talk about it.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Archer promised.“Just not right now.”
“Fine.”She huffed and marched up the stairs.
Mildred hopped up from her dog bed in the corner of the living room and trotted after her.The door to Lenni’s bedroom shut and Archer let out a deep exhale.
“First a boy, now pierced ears?I thought I had a few more years before either of these things happened,” Archer stated with a glum look.
I rose and gathered our plates.He stood to join me in cleaning up.
“I do not trust that kid,” he said.“Thirteen years old and already wrangled himself an invite to the ranch to ride horses.”
“Your daughter invited him.Silas wrangled nothing,” I said as I took the plates to the sink.
“How old were you when you got your ears pierced?”
“Eighth grade.I was almost fourteen.”
“Is that normal?What’s a normal age to have your ears pierced?”
I shrugged.“Anyone’s guess, Archer.There is no manual for raising kids.Everyone’s different.”
“Did your parents not let you get your ears pierced until then?How did all that go down?”
I paused mid-rinse and cocked my head to the side.
“What?”he demanded.
“I’m thinking,” I said.“I’m trying to remember ...I don’t think I asked until I was that age.I didn’t really care about that.”
“No?”
I shook my head.“I was a tomboy.Athletic.I didn’t think about piercing my ears or wearing makeup until high school.”
“Oh God.Makeup.”
I smiled at him and then got back to rinsing.“So, you belonged to the same motorcycle club as Colt.That’s wild.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly.“Wild is one way of putting it.”
I glanced at him.“What?What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay.”
