Page 9 of A Home for Harmony

“It’s fine,” she said. “You know I don’t let Mom get to me much anymore.”

Which was a lie.

“I do,” Erica said. “But I still think you could do that today and your followers would appreciate it.”

“Maybe.”

But she wouldn’t because then that would make her a liar if Micah looked her up and saw it.

Not that she believed he’d care enough, but still, best not to risk it.

3

TEENAGE DRAMA

The garage door rose as he arrived home at the end of the day and Micah saw his daughter’s used SUV parked in her spot. He was pretty good about knowing what day it was, but it never stopped his daughter from coming over unannounced.

And he didn’t want her ever to feel as if she couldn’t.

When he opened the door to the kitchen, he smelled food and saw her standing there cooking.

“Are you just making me dinner or staying the night?”

“Both,” Scarlet said.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He moved over to look at what was in the pan and saw the breaded chicken. There was a big pot with boiling water filled with potatoes and a frozen bag of vegetables in the microwave.

Perfect timing, which meant she’d been following him on his phone to know he left work.

That also meant teenage drama was about to ensue.

“Maybe I wanted to be here tonight,” Scarlet said.

“You’re always welcome,” he said. “Especially if you’re cooking. But I didn’t have chicken in the house.”

“I stopped and got it,” Scarlet said.

“Does Mom know where you are?”

“I said it as I slammed out the door,” his daughter said. “But she can track me too, just like you. It seems like that is all she does is follow my every move.”

“You can track me,” he said. “Those are the rules. I want to know you’re safe and you want to know I am.” He lifted an eyebrow. “It works for having dinner on the table timely too.”

Scarlet smiled.

Her hair was in some complicated ponytail he couldn’t make heads or tails of.

It actually looked like a tail with more rubber bands throughout it.

She had a fitted cotton shirt on that was too tight in his mind, but it covered her chest and went up to her collarbone.

The downside was that it stopped right at her hips, where her low-rise, baggy cargo pants began. Every time she moved, a flash of bare skin showed. He’d long since stopped arguing about it. He’d seen worse, and honestly, he had bigger battles to fight.

“It does,” Scarlet said. “The potatoes should be done.”

“Can I shower while you finish, or should I wait?”

“Go ahead,” his daughter said.