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same wavelength, so I moved his cup to my teeth and used my hands to wriggle my phone free.
    A glance at the display, however, showed a 313 area code. I had no idea where that even was and told myself it was a wrong number. Tucking the phone away, I saw my teammates dead ahead, grinning my way and calling out to me. In hey-you-babycakes, welcome-to-the-club ways.
    It took a moment for my brain make the connection. Then I pulled the cup from my mouth, and told myself to play it cool.
    “Hey, have you guys seen Adam?” I said, gliding up to them, careful to keep the beer from sloshing.
    Madison’s amused gaze went from my cup to mine.
    “This is his ,” I clarified.
    “Uh-huh,” she said, but her smile did not leave town.
    Flea stepped in closer to me. “I saw him walking around with Saffron a little bit ago. He couldn’t be too far.”
    “They might be behind a closed door,” Madison offered with a smirk.
    I faked a laugh. What else could I do? Admit that the idea of Saffron and Adam together was almost as bad as the fact no one on the team had thought to check with me about my feelings on this matter first? So what if I’d been AWOL?
    My gaze centered on Flea. She was my best friend. Was I still hers?
    “Well, I should probably find Adam before this beer gets warm,” I said, realizing moving on was better in the long run than saying something I’d regret. Something that might make this whole thing even worse.
    Soon I was padding past a dining room table that could seat the entire softball team, and through the huge room that housed couches and an entertainment center. There was nothing “great” about that room, in my opinion. In fact, I didn’t feel any sense of goodness or realness or rightness until I plunked Adam’s cup on a random end table and headed for the front door.

 
     
    Chapter 5
     
     
    Breakfast was on the fly that next morning since I was in a hurry to get to work. Phillip let me open the shop on Saturdays, which he considered a favor to him, but I knew was a favor to me. It was the only day I got uninterrupted, quality time with my boyfriend.
    Zipping around the kitchen, I pitched some frozen berries, a few dollops of yogurt, a long stream of apple juice and a whole lot of sugar into the blender, and set the knob on high. Within minutes I had an icy cold fruit smoothie—and my dad at my side.
    I divided the mixture into two glasses. His eyes widened appreciatively, then he knocked his back in a few Adam’s apple-bobbing swallows. Which would have given me total brain freeze, but since when did our brains work alike?
    “Thanks,” he said, depositing his empty glass back in my hand. “Before you go, make sure the counters and table are clear? Jennifer’s got a couple of DJ’s coming by for the reception, and we’ll need space for their boom boxes and cassette tape collections.”
    O.M.G., nerd alert! “Dad, cassettes?”
    “Right, I meant CD collection.”
    “Better, but still, they’ll more likely to bring an iPod and a docking station.”
    His eyes blurred and practically crossed.
    “Never mind. You’ll see.” I clunked my glass down on the counter. “I’ve got to get to work, so I’ll just put all this in the dishwasher and run a rag over the counter and you’ll be fine.”
    I knew he was proud of me for having a job. Still, I could see a battle going on in his wavy brow as to where my priorities rested. “But what if Jennifer wants to hold the meetings in the dining room or living room? Do you have a second to straighten up in there?”
    I bit my tongue from telling him to do it himself—I wasn’t even sure he’d know how—and thanked my lucky stars that in just fourteen more days I’d be getting round-the-clock help with my bumbling dad.
    “I’m sure she can handle whatever comes along,” I told him and reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you tonight, Dad.”
     
    * * *
     
    Flipping the shop’s sign from “Sorry, Closed” to