“I have Saturdays off,” Harper said, instead of addressing how she was holding up.
“That’s what the girl working there told me. It was a surly girl with straight bangs.” He held his hand up in front of his forehead to show where her bangs hit just above her eyebrows.
“That’s Marcy.”
“The coworker you can’t leave unattended?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah.” She laughed a little, surprised that Daniel had been paying attention and remembered that. “That’s her.”
“She told me where you lived, and I hope it’s not too weird that I’m stopping by. I can go if you want.” He motioned to the door beside him.
“No, no. It’s good. And I know where you live, so it’s only fair, right?”
“I guess.” He smiled, looking relieved. “How are you doing?”
“Fine.” She shrugged.
“Harper?” Brian asked and came in from the kitchen. “Who’s this?”
“Dad, this is, um, Daniel.” Harper gestured toward him. “Daniel, this is my dad, Brian.”
“Hello, sir.” Daniel extended his hand, and Brian eyed him uncertainly as they shook hands.
“You look familiar,” Brian said. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“You’ve probably seen me at my boat.” Daniel put his hands in his back pockets. “The Dirty Gull. It’s parked down at the docks.”
“Oh.” Brian stared at him, trying to figure out how he knew him. “Was your grandfather Darryl Morgan?”
Daniel nodded. “That would be my grandpa.”
“He was my foreman down at the docks,” Brian said. “We lost a good guy when he passed away.”
“That we did,” Daniel agreed.
“You used to come down to the docks with him, didn’t you? But you were just…” Brian held his hand up near his hip, but now Daniel was actually a good inch taller than Brian. “And now you’re all grown up.” He looked over at Harper. “And you’re visiting my daughter.”
“Dad,” Harper said quietly and gave him a look.
“Okay. Well, it was good to see you again,” Brian said. “But I think I’m going to head out to the garage to work on Gemma’s car.” He walked around them and went to the front door, but paused when he opened it. “But I’ll just be right outside if you need me. With heavy tools.”
“Dad!” Harper snapped.
“Have fun, kids,” Brian said as he disappeared out the front door.
“Sorry about that,” Harper said after her father had gone.
“It’s okay.” Daniel smirked. “I’m guessing you don’t have a lot of male suitors.”
“Are you implying that you are a male suitor?” Harper raised an eyebrow and looked up at him.
“I’m not implying anything,” he said, but he smiled at her in a way that made her look away.
“Do you want something to drink?” she asked, walking toward the kitchen. “I just made some coffee a little bit ago.”
“Coffee would be great.”
Daniel followed her into the kitchen. Harper grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and filled them both with coffee. When she gave Daniel his, he sat down at the kitchen table, but she stayed standing, preferring to lean against the counter and drink her coffee.
“This is really good coffee,” Daniel said after taking a sip.
“Thank you. It’s Folgers.”
“So.” He set his mug down on the table. “You never did tell me how you were doing.”
“Yeah, I did. I said I was fine.”
“Yeah, but that was a lie.” He tilted his head, watching her. “How are you really doing?”
Harper scoffed and looked away from him, smiling nervously. “How do you know that’s a lie? And why would I lie?” She shook her head. “Why would I not be okay? I mean, I only knew one of them, and I didn’t even really know the guy.”
“You are a horrible liar. Honestly. You’re one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Every time you say something that’s not true, you ramble and avoid eye contact.”
“I…” She started to protest, then sighed.
“Why don’t you want to admit how you really feel?” Daniel asked.
“It’s not that I don’t want to.” She stared down at the coffee in her hands. “It’s that … I don’t feel like I have a right to feel bad.”
“How do you not have a right to feel bad? You’re entitled to feel however you feel.”
“No, I’m not.” She suddenly wanted to cry. “Luke was … I barely knew him. His parents lost a son. Alex lost a friend. They loved him. They lost something. They get to feel terrible about it.”
She shook her head, as if that wasn’t what she wanted to say at all. “We exchanged a few really awkward, sloppy kisses last fall, and then I kinda blew him off.” She chewed her lip, trying not to cry. “I mean, he was a nice guy. I just didn’t feel that way about him.”
“Because you dated, and it ended, you don’t get to feel bad?” Daniel asked.
“Maybe.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”