“I’m happy for you, Pixie.” He wasn’t teasing this time. He was being serious.

I lifted my head to make sure, and he seemed genuine. “Thanks, Dad. It’s kind of early still, so I don’t want to get my hopes up yet.”

“If you are using his soap already, I’m guessing hopes have been thrown out the window for both of you. You're past that now.”

My face was inflamed by the time he let us start playing. I pulled out some chicken to thaw while we played. By the time Randy arrived, it was ready to be cooked. Once again, he followed me to the kitchen.

“How’ve you been? I’ve hardly spoken to you all week.”

I snorted. “Because we talked so often before?”

He cracked a smile. “Okay, I’ll give you that. I was just hoping to talk to you after what happened last week. Are you okay? What happened? All you sent was a message with a thumbs up.”

“Don’t I look okay?”

He moved his head as he looked me over for injuries. “I guess. What was all that about with Dillan? When he came to see me, he was livid. I was terrified he was going to hurt you.”

I waved his words away with my left hand. “He ticked me off, so I locked him out of his own database and accounts. He wasn’t able to access anything for over a week. They had to run business the old-fashioned way. The stress had gotten to him, that's all. We worked it out, all’s well now.” I glanced over at Randy. He had more questions, ones I didn't want to answer. “Why don’t you go hang out with Dad? Spend time with him.”

Randy stared at me for another minute, then finally left. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until he was gone. 

Things moved along smoothly, no more issues, until I called them to the table. They both sat down, and I carried the food over. I leaned over next to Randy, so I could set the pan of chicken in the middle of the table. I heard him sniff and expected him to say something about the food, as he usually did. 

Nope.

“Why do you smell like Dillan?”

I practically dropped the chicken and ran back to the kitchen for the rice.

“Fi?” Randy called, not so happy anymore.

“Your sister stayed with a friend last night, she forgot her soap.” My Dad was oh so helpful as he scooped chicken onto my plate for me. 

I set the rice next to the pan and the green beans and took my seat. 

“Fiona.” Randy sounded distraught.

“Who says it was Dillan’s soap? Anyone could have gotten it from the store.”

“BS. I’ve heard Dillan talking about it before. He orders it online, from some place in Europe.”

Dang. I forgot Dillan had said that. His stuff was awesome. I never felt so soft after. I sighed and looked at my brother. 

“What’s your point, Randy? You want me to admit I’ve been spending time with him? Fine! I see Dillan almost every day after work. Happy?”

“Fi. He’s not… he’s…”

“A really great guy who runs his own business, cares about me, and tries to take care of me? What’s so bad about that?” I threw my napkin on the table and walked back to the kitchen. I needed a minute.