“You should ask Brenna. She’s a gifted teacher.” He was about to reach for a beer when he remembered he was supposed to be setting an example, so poured himself a glass of milk instead. Since Jess had moved in, he’d disciplined himself not to drink from the carton. “She’ll tell you what everyone is doing wrong.”
“She’s already promised to help me now I’ve made the school ski team. Have you seen her in the gym? She has sick abs.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen her.” And he didn’t let himself think about her abs.
He didn’t let himself think about any part of her.
She was his best friend, and she was staying that way.
To take his mind off the thought of Brenna’s abs, he stuck his head back in the fridge. “This fridge is empty.”
“Kayla’s giving me a lift into the village later so I’ll pick something up.” Her phone beeped, and she dug it out of her pocket. “Oh—”
Tyler pushed the door shut with his shoulder and then caught sight of her expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Kayla texted to say she’s tied up with work, that’s all.”
“Sounds painful. Never mind. I’ll go to the store tomorrow.”
Jess stared at her phone. “I need to go now.”
“Why? We both hate shopping. It can wait.”
“This can’t wait.” Her head was down, but he saw color streak across her cheekbones.
“Is this about Christmas? Because it’s not for another couple of weeks. We still have plenty of time. Most of my shopping gets done at three o’clock on Christmas Eve.”
“It’s not about Christmas! Dad, I need—” she broke off, her face scarlet “—some things from the store, that’s all.”
“What can you possibly need that can’t wait until tomorrow?”
“Girl stuff, okay? I need girl stuff!” Snapping at him, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room leaving Tyler staring after her, trying to understand the reason for the sudden mood explosion.
Girl stuff?
It took him a moment, and then he closed his eyes briefly and swore under his breath.
Girl stuff.
Comprehension came along with a moment of pure panic. Nothing in his past life had prepared him to raise a teenager. Especially not a teenage girl.
When had she—?
He glanced toward the door, knowing he had to say something, but clueless as to the most sensitive way to broach a topic that embarrassed the hell out of both of them.
Could he ignore it?
Tell her to search the internet?
He ran his hand over his face and cursed under his breath, knowing he couldn’t ignore it or leave something that important to a search engine.
It wasn’t as if she had her mother to ask. He was the only parent in her life. And right now she was probably thinking that was a raw deal.
“Jess!” He yelled after her, and when there was no response, he strode out of the kitchen and found her tugging her boots on in the hall. “Get in the car. I’ll take you to the store.”
“Forget it.” Her voice was muffled, her hair falling forward over her face. “I’m going to walk over to the house and ask Grandma to drive me.”
“Grandma hates driving in the snow and the dark. I’ll take you.” His voice was rougher than he intended, and he stretched out a hand to touch her shoulder and then pulled it back. To hug or not to hug? He had no idea. “I was going to the store anyway.”