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Manhattan, so he could be nearby.
    Lisa, Ted and Riley had managed to co-parent fairly well, at least until the teenage years had kicked in. Now they disagreed on how to handle Elizabeth, how to give her things without spoiling her and how to discipline her over her declining school grades. Add attention deficit disorder to the mix and they really had their hands full, Riley thought.
    He didn’t think Elizabeth would mind him canceling since he saw her a couple of times a week and weekends when she wasn’t busy with her friends. She was probably sick of him by now, he thought with a smirk, and would be glad he’d had a change of plans.
    Scratch that. Even if she was relieved that she didn’t have to hang with her father, she’d act as if she’d been slighted and wronged just so she could pick a fight and piss him off. His sweet baby had woken up one morning and morphed into the very thing a parent dreaded most: a hormonal teenage girl.
    He dialed and a familiar female voice answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
    “Hi, Lisa.”
    “Hi, Riley,” she said. “How’s the man of leisure?”
    He didn’t take offense. She’d never recognized that he worked out as hard on the off season, if not harder, never taking good health or good shape for granted. “I’m fine but I have to take an unexpected business trip.”
    Lisa didn’t know Spencer Atkins was his father and if he hadn’t revealed the secret during their brief marriage, he sure as hell wasn’t about to spill his guts now. “Can you tell Lizzie I’m sorry and I’ll make it up to her?”
    “You can tell her yourself since she’s home with a stomach virus. We would’ve called you today and canceled anyway. She’s going to need to rest tomorrow, too. Hang on. Elizabeth,” she screamed, probably over the blare of music from his daughter’s bedroom. “Your father’s on the phone.”
    “Hello?” a miserable-sounding Elizabeth said after picking up another receiver.
    “Hi, Lizzie baby, how are you doing?”
    She groaned. “I’ve been barfing my guts up all morning,” she said on a whine.
    “Aww, jeez. I’m sorry. But I’m sure you’ll be back to your old self in no time.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, at least I don’t feel as bad telling you I have to be out of town this weekend.”
    “But…but…” A huge pause followed. “You said we could have PF Chang’s. You promised!”
    He couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. “Honey, if you could eat Chinese food anytime soon, I’d make a point to stay home. Don’t pick a fight just to have an argument. I’ll take you out for dinner as soon as I get back. I promise. I’ll even bring you back a surprise.”
    She remained silent, a deliberate, guilt-inducing silence.
    “I’ll call you and see how you’re feeling, okay?” Not expecting a reply, he added, “Be good and remember when you start to eat, do it in small doses and do it smart.”
    More silence followed. The kid had made guilt into an art form, Riley thought. “Feel better, baby.”
    “I’m not a baby,” she muttered.
    Maybe not but he’d gotten a reply out of her, which had been his goal. He chuckled and heard the click in his ear, indicating she’d hung up.
    “You spoil her,” Lisa said just as he’d been about to put down the phone.
    “I didn’t realize you’d stayed on the extension.”
    “Let’s just say I was curious how you’d handle her.”
    A quick glance at the clock told him he had to get moving or risk missing his flight, but he couldn’t let this pass. “I don’t need you eavesdropping on me,” he said through gritted teeth.
    “If you upset her, she’s just going to take it out on Ted and me,” she said.
    Ted had been Elizabeth’s stepfather for the last seven years. For someone who wasn’t interested in sports, he was a nice enough guy. Unfortunately he also had a kid from a prior marriage and he was much stricter than Riley. He didn’t approve of the gifts and extras Riley bought his