Page 123 of A Home for Harmony

“I know I’m going to get grounded.”

“Accept the punishment for your actions,” she said. “It’s part of life.”

Micah walked in the door then with dinner.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m going to shower and change.”

“I’ll set the table,” Scarlet said.

He looked at Harmony and lifted his eyebrows, but she shook her head. She wouldn’t tell him what was said. Nor was she going to go to his room and let Scarlet feel as if she was being betrayed.

“It might go a long way if you apologize first and let him know why you did it,” she said.

“I told him why,” Scarlet said. “None of my teachers were in and we only had subs. We weren’t doing anything. Then he told me if I said that to him this morning, he might have let me miss school. But I doubt it.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I can’t see him letting me do that.”

“You don’t know for certain unless you ask, but now you probably broke his trust.”

Scarlet’s shoulders dropped down. “He said that too.”

Harmony helped get the table set and brought the pizza to the center, along with the salad Micah had picked up.

He was down in the kitchen a few minutes later.

“I’m hungry,” she said, moving to the table to get out of the way.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Scarlet said, hugging her father. “I shouldn’t have done it and then realized what an idiot I am knowing you’d find out.”

“So you’re sorry because you got caught?”

“No,” Scarlet said. “Just for doing it. I didn’t really want to and got talked into it. Maybe the pressure got the best of me and that was wrong. Eli probably is going to think I’m an idiot now too. He went to school. He’s smart and he’s been helping me with homework in study hall.”

“He’s in your study hall?” he asked.

They all sat and ate. “He is,” Scarlet said. “That’s how we met. He’s cute, but a little dorky. Not someone I thought I’d like, but he’s funny too. I really like him.”

He put his hand up. “This isn’t about whether or not you can have a boyfriend. Don’t turn it into that.”

Scarlet put a pout on her face. “Oh. You saw through that.”

Harmony kept her grin in. Scarlet was a smart one. “You told your father why you did it and regret it. You also know you’ve got to live with the consequences. Micah, why don’t you tell Scarlet why you’re upset?”

“I know why,” Scarlet said. “Because he’s always worried I’m going to get into some situation I can’t get out of.”

“It happens,” he said.

“But you’ve taught me how to handle myself,” Scarlet argued.

“You’re sixteen, not thirty-six. You don’t know it all to handle well even if you wanted to,” he said.

“I get myself in binds all the time,” Harmony said. “Sometimes you’ve got to learn to ask for help if you’re uncertain. And if you make the wrong decision, own it.”

She was looking at Micah while she said it.

“What’s going on with you?” Scarlet asked. “Is Dad mad at you for something too?”