“That’s true.” She kissed his chest. “Gotta go, babe. There’s coffee when you’re ready and yes, I finally figured out you’ve been putting chicory in my blend. It’s delicious.”

“Hey, you love all things Cajun.”

She wrinkled her nose and stalked off.

He forced himself to get up. She was right about working crazy hours. He wasn’t going to be able to do it much longer. He was starting to get irritated due to worry and lack of sleep. Just yesterday, he’d actually given out three tickets for dog doo violations when he would usually issue a warning. The owner of a Labradoodle with an obviously healthy colon had accused him of being the po-po who was too concerned with poo-poo.

He couldn’t deal with these people on no sleep. Coffee and a hot shower would only keep him going for so long. He’d managed to keep his irritable mood from Lila and Noelle, but the rest of the town was definitely starting to notice. He was a bear.

Noelle sat with her laptop at the breakfast table, a big bowl in front of her. She glanced up. “There’s oatmeal. Lila made it in the slow cooker last night. It’s pretty good.”

Her eyes went back down to the screen.

He grabbed a cup of coffee. He was too tired for this, but he didn’t like the fact that there seemed to be some tension to his daughter he didn’t understand. “I heard you decided to not go out this weekend. I thought you had fun.”

She didn’t look up from her computer screen. “I did. The movies were good, but I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“I get the reports on your pacing. You’re ahead, sweetheart.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Did those girls say or do something they shouldn’t have?”

“No. I just don’t want to go. And I think you should talk to your girlfriend about the fact that she’s not my mom.” Noelle’s lips firmed. “Look, I like Lila. I like her a lot, but I’m starting to think that maybe she doesn’t like me.”

“Why would you say that?”

“She’s always talking to me about how smart I am and how much I could do.”

“That doesn’t seem like a bad thing.”

“It is when you really can’t do any of those things. I can’t go to college, Dad.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe we can work something out. I mean, I’ll be honest, I don’t see you going to UT Austin and living completely on your own, but maybe we could start looking around for a community college we could get you to. And maybe we should think about getting a car you could drive.”

Her skin paled in the morning light. “I’m not driving. I’m not.”