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“Sounds delicious.”

“Dad, did you cook all of this?”

“I did, and why do you sound surprised?”

Carla pulled her face from the food and glanced at Mr. Jones. “I just thought when I moved out you would relax on cooking so heavily like you used to.”

“This is hardly heavy, and it looks like you could use a meal or two.”

Her brows creasing, Carla turned fully and placed a hand on her hip. “What are you trying to say?”

“Are you losing weight?”

She exhaled, taking an eye to Jacob, who looked on with interest. Glancing back at her father, she responded, “I’m glad you noticed. My hips have gotten wider than they were before.”

“No, they haven’t.”

“Dad, I think I know my hips.”

“I think I know your hips. They were the same size they’ve always been.”

Carla turned back to the stove and opened the cabinet. Gathering plates, she went about serving up their food and ignoring that last thing her father said.

Mr. Jones turned to Jacob. “She does that when I get on her nerves. Gets all quiet and pretend like we’re not having a conversation.”

“We’re not having a conversation, Dad. You’re taking digs at my weight, and I don’t care to talk about it.”

“Young lady—”

“I’m thirty-eight years old,” she mumbled. “There’s nothing young about me.”

Mr. Jones smirked and eyed Jacob again. “You’re my young lady,” Mr. Jones said. “Now, I wouldn’t talk about your weight in a bad way. I wanted you to know there’s nothing wrong with you the way you were.”

Carla finished fixing their food and served their plates.

Face-to-face with her father, she asked, “Do you have a problem with me losing weight?”

“I just—”

“Answer the question, Daddy.”

Mr. Jones closed his mouth tight then. “No.”

Carla looked at Jacob. “Mr. Rose, do you have a problem with me losing weight?”

“As long as you’re doing it to please yourself and not anyone else, including me, I support your weight-loss transition.”

Carla peered at him. His answer was neatly packaged, and she couldn’t figure out if she should feel some type of way.

“Don’t think too deep into it. I meant it exactly how it was proposed.”

Carla’s brow rose. So what if she wanted to do both—lose a little weight for her and him. She would keep that to herself, however.

“Good,” she finally said. “Now we can eat.”

Jacob stood and pulled out her chair.

“Thank you.”