More giggles and a round of goodbyes later, Becca flung open the door and climbed into the cab. “I had The. Best. Day. Ever,” she screeched.

John waited for the rest of the girls to cross in front of the truck. “Who are all of those girls?”

“Jenny, Megan, Bridgette, Devon, McKenna, and Kelly,” she recited as if it were common knowledge.

John looked down at her. “Didn’t you get into a fight with them?”

“We’re friends now,” Becca said. “Catch up, please.”

He frowned. “When did this happen?”

His niece returned his frown with her own. “Like, after the first day of after-school detention. We all had some group therapy or something and we learned a lot. Jenny was being mean to me because her parents just decided to get a divorce and she didn’t know how to handle it. They apologized and we accepted.”

Really? That simple? “And this is why you’re having the best day ever?”

Becca scoffed. “No, that was ages ago. I’m excited because of Connor.”

“Who’s Connor?” John asked as he started the engine.

“The boy in fifth period P.E. He’s so cute and amazing.”

John swallowed his shock. There were a few ways to play this out and if he shot his mouth off too quickly, Becca would clam up. The first night they’d worked in the library, Victoria had told him to listen to his niece and she might continue to share. Instead of demanding the boy’s address so John could drive there and wring his neck, he tried something else. “So what was so exciting about fifth period P.E. with Connor?” He tried to make his voice light as he gripped the steering wheel.

“Omigod, it was incredible,” she crowed. “I was showing McKenna the new kicks I learned at the gym and Connor just walked over and asked me if I wanted to sit with him at lunch tomorrow.”

That’s it? The kid hardly sounded like Romeo. A relief, but cafeteria lunch didn’t sound like the greatest overture. “Yeah?”

“And then he said he liked the way I kicked and wanted me to show him how to do it. He’s not really good at it, but he was trying it anyway.”

“Okay...”

“I haven’t even gotten to the best part. We started the square dancing unit in P.E.”

John was lost. “They’re still square dancing in gym class?”

“Connor asked to be my partner! He turned like, three shades of red and asked if I wanted to dance with him. He’s terrible at that too, so I didn’t feel like a klutz. We held hands and skipped and do-si-doed! It was magical...”

John glanced down at her to see if she was on the verge of swooning. “Huh, well that sounds okay, I guess.”

“Okay? It was more than okay,” Becca said. “It was—”

“—magical. Right.”