I looked at her long brown hair and blue eyes and perfectly pink lips. There was nothing terrible looking about her. “No. Go.”

She took a couple of steps and then stopped. “Wait. Did you tell him anything about me?”

“Nothing too embarrassing. Yet.” I pointed at the stairs. “Go. And keep the door to your room open.”

She huffed, irritated, then hustled up the steps.

I took a deep breath.

She’d been a teenager for several years, but now that she was inviting boys over to the house, it appeared as if we were in the throes of teenage hormones and insanity. Emily was a good kid but that didn’t mean it was going to be a smooth ride. I knew better. I’d been a teenage girl, too.

And that was enough to make me hustle back up the stairs to keep an eye on them.

THIRTEEN

“There was a boy? In this house?” Jake asked as we got into bed later that night.

Andy’s mother, Catherine, picked him up at four-thirty on the button, thanking us profusely for giving him temporary housing. I’d assured her it was no big deal. She was as nice and polite as I’d found Andy to be. Emily quickly disappeared back into her room after he left and the other kids peppered her with questions during dinner until I shut them down. Jake had worked late, missing out on the drama, so I was filling him in.

“There’s usually two boys, hello. You and Will.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes, there was an unfamiliar boy in our house this afternoon,” I said. “And he was perfectly polite and nice. And cute.”

“Did you tell him we put the dead bodies in the basement?” he asked.

“Ha. No. There was no need. He was a very nice kid. And do you remember the kid that was hanging around her at the talent show? The one with the violin?”

“I do.”

I tapped him on the chest. “That’s Andy. That’s him.”

Jake grunted. “Hmm. Still. You should’ve mentioned the dead bodies and that he would fit nicely in the secret underground body holding cell.”

“She’s a teenager. There are going to be boys,” I reminded him. “You were a boy.”

“Yeah and you remember what I was like in high school, don’t you?”

I did. He’d been handsome and funny and a smart ass and a terrific kisser. He hadn’t really changed all that much.

“I do,” I told him. “And I’d be thrilled if Emily found a boy like you.”

“They will try to touch her,” he warned. “And kiss her. And… and do the other things!”

I patted his chest. “Yes. Because this is the real world and we have an attractive daughter who likes boys. Life happens.”

He groaned. “I don’t like thinking about that. I wanna be here the next time Randy comes over.”

“Andy.”

“Whatever. I need to have a talk with him.”

I laughed and shook my head. I loved that he thought of Emily as his own. We’d never really done the whole awkward stepparent thing. Given that their own dad wasn’t around all that often, all three of my own kids had taken to Jake immediately and he’d reciprocated. They didn’t call him dad but he was the one who helped Emily with projects; he was the one who threw the football around with Will and analyzed game scores; he was the one who’d taught Grace how to swim. There hadn’t been an awkward transitional period of everyone feeling each other out and getting to know each other. We’d just sort of become a family, just like that.

But he was a bit of an overprotective bear and I was going to have to try to temper that.

A knock on the door interrupted us.

“Come in,” he said.

The door squeaked open and Emily poked her head in. “Not asleep yet?”

“Nope,” he said. “Come on in.”

She shuffled into the room, her hair wet from her shower, her long-sleeve T-shirt spattered with drops of water. She perched herself on the foot of the bed. “So.”

“So,” I said.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked.

“For trying to bring a boy home and get me to stay away from the house?” I said. “Trouble is probably a little too strong. But you do need to be admonished.”

She frowned. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that if Andy is going to be a regular visitor to our home, we need to lay down some ground rules,” I explained.

“And rule number one is that I have to be home the next time any boy comes over,” Jake said.

“Why?” Em asked.

“So I can inspect them. And put the fear of me into them.”

Emily opened her mouth to protest but I cut her off.

“Ignore him,” I told her. “But let’s get clear on the rules. First off, no boys in the house unless an adult is home. Period.”

“He didn’t have anywhere to go,” she objected.

“He could’ve stayed at school,” I said. “And you could’ve asked me to come home so I’d be here. Instead, you tried to get cute. Unfortunately for you, your mother is sharp like broken glass and I sniffed out your little plan.”

“Nothing was going to happen, Mom.” Her eyes were wide. “I swear.”

“And I believe you,” I told her. “But no boys in the house unless I’m home or Jake’s home.”

She frowned, but nodded. “Okay.”

“Rule number two,” I said. “If you decide you’re going to have sex with—”

“Mom!!!”

“—Andy, then let me know and we can talk about contraceptive options.”

“Oh my God, Mom. Just stop.”

Jake was trying not to laugh.

“What?” I asked, looking at both of them. “I’m serious. I want you to know that you can talk to me about those things. Because they are going to happen. I want you to ask questions.”

“Mom, we haven’t even kissed!” Emily said, her face bright red.

“Has he tried?” Jake asked, leaning forward. “Has he tried to kiss you?”

“No,” she said, completely exasperated. “No. And oh my God, I never should have come up here.”

“And rule number three,” I said, ignoring her. “No going to his house unless there’s an adult there.”

“I don’t even know if I’m ever going there.”

“So now we’re prepared in case that does happen,” I told her. “Are we clear?”

“Yes,” she said. “Are those all the rules?”

“For now,” I said. “Until I come up with more.”

She pushed off the bed. “Great. Goodnight.” She sighed deeply.

We told her goodnight and watched her go.

Jake turned to me. “Contraceptive options? Seriously?”

“What? I want her to be prepared.”

“She’s not having sex with Randy,” he said.

“Andy.”

“Whatever.”

FOURTEEN

“Hey, Daisy,” Officer Ted said to me, smiling. “It’s been awhile.”

The next morning, I was at the Good Egg Bakery on Main, perusing the donuts and rolls and other assorted goodies. I’d decided I was going to work on the play program at home that morning and in order to do so, I was going to need some donut-provided energy and inspiration. Plus, I didn’t want to spend an hour in the kitchen making breakfast and then cleaning it up. I’d settled on a variety of maple donuts for the kids and a cinnamon roll for myself when Officer Ted tapped me on the shoulder.

It had been awhile. I was fairly certain that the last time I’d seen him was when we’d called the Moose River Police Department to let them know we’d found a dead body in our basement. He’d been matter of fact about coming to take the report, as if he saw things like things like that all the time. He was one of the few who hadn’t jumped to conclusions about the body and I’d always appreciated him for that.

“Hi, Ted,” I said. “How are you?”

He took off his uniform cap and nodded. “Good, good. Busy, but good. Things have calmed down at your house?”

I chuckled. “Considerably so, yes.”

“Heard about you and the computers over at the school,” he said, his eyes scanning the sugary confections behind the glass case. “That was pretty good work.”

My face warmed. “More luck than anything. That and being in the right place at the right time. Or wrong place.”