Man of the Family by Leigh Riker

Author:Leigh Riker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

GRIFFIN HAD WANTED TO pick his moment with Amanda, but the vague sense of something wrong followed him down the apartment hall. Maybe he shouldn’t have let Josh go with Chris. It wasn’t that late, just after dark, not even Josh’s bedtime yet. But why wasn’t he home?

A nearby marina, Chris had said. How long could it take to get there, find out about the boat that was being fixed, then turn around and head back to port?

Amanda had already taken her lengthy nighttime shower and was in her room, the light showing under her door. All day he’d been planning what to say to her about the smoking incident. Now was the time—before Josh came home.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember a word of his speech. He knocked at her door and pushed it open when she said, “It’s not locked.”

Wing it, then, he thought. Take your mind off Chris and Josh.

Amanda was sitting up in bed. Wearing one of her crop tops with PJ shorts, she had her arms wrapped around her knees. The covers had been pushed to the end of her bed. Her hair, still wet from her shower and looking shades darker, trailed over her shoulders. A few drops of water clung to her freckles. She also wore an expression of impending doom that seemed to mirror his. Apparently she’d been dreading this, too.

She gave Griffin one of her aggrieved sighs.

“Hey, baby.” He walked past the dresser where he’d discovered Sunny’s watch. Tonight its surface held nothing but a hairbrush and some of those elastic things she used for ponytails.

“I’m not your baby. Josh is the baby.”

“Have it your way, Amanda.” So much for the friendly approach. Okay, then. “Question—why cigarettes, kiddo?”

“Cigarette. One,” she said.

“Whether it’s one or a dozen, buying cigarettes—or having someone else buy them for you—when you’re underage isn’t legal. You’ve been making some pretty poor choices lately.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. Don’t bring up Sunny Donovan’s watch again. You sound just like her at the pool.” Amanda buried her head on her knees.

They were getting nowhere fast. “Then how about those grades that appeared this morning by the coffeemaker? When did they come?”

“Yesterday,” she said.

“That the truth?” Or had she been hiding them for a week?

She raised her head. “Are you calling me a liar?”

Here we go, he thought, wishing he could remember his speech. It had been wise and understanding, the words to be spoken in a low, nonthreatening manner. He should have rehearsed some more.

“Look, Mandi. I’m not going to run through the reasons why you shouldn’t smoke. I’m sure you’ve heard that lecture at school. It’s unhealthy. Maybe you and Dixie should find some other means of entertainment.” He never thought he’d say what came out next. “Email some other friends...hang out on Facebook,” he said.

Amanda gave him a disdainful look. “That is so yesterday. Besides, we were only relaxing at the pool.”

“Smoking relaxes you?”

“Dixie said it would.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

She lay back on her pillows, squashing her one-eyed doll and the stuffed giraffe she’d had since she was a baby.

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