Gemma had finally gotten her giggling fit under control and turned around to see Brian standing in the kitchen doorway.

“Daniel,” Brian said, and that explained the pained expression on his face. He clearly wasn’t thrilled about boys coming around for his daughters.

“Oh, um…” Harper pushed her hair back behind her ear and shook her head. “I’m busy making supper.”

“Nonsense,” Gemma said. “You go talk to Daniel. Me and Dad can handle this, can’t we?” Brian seemed reluctant to agree to this, so Gemma smiled at him. “Come on, Dad. If you don’t help me make supper, I’ll find a way to burn everything. Even the noodles.”

“Go on.” Brian nodded at Harper and offered her a small smile. “I’ll help your sister.”

“Okay, then.” She smiled thinly at Brian and Gemma, trying to look grateful, when she really didn’t feel that grateful.

She’d spent the day with her sister preparing for a siren attack, so she probably looked horrible. Besides that, she’d told Daniel she didn’t want to see him anymore just the day before. And that had been hard enough to do the first time. She didn’t want to do it again.

In the living room, Daniel was standing with his back to her. He was bent forward slightly, admiring the pictures that lined the mantel.

Harper watched him for a moment, feeling a pang of regret at having to send him away, then she cleared her throat.

“Daniel?” Harper said, and he turned to face her.

“Are these your parents?” Daniel pointed to a wedding photo of her mom and dad.

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s them.”

“Your mom is very pretty,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, she is,” Harper agreed, and walked over to him. “Gemma really takes after her.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Daniel glanced back at the picture as if to confirm the observation, then smiled back at Harper. “But you’re prettier.”

Harper looked down at her feet, blushing slightly. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not,” she said. Gemma and Brian laughed in the kitchen, and Harper looked back toward the other room. “I should really go back and help them.”

“They’re laughing, Harper, not screaming for help,” Daniel pointed out. “And your dad is a grown man. I’m pretty sure he can handle making supper without you.”

“What are you doing here, Daniel?” Harper asked, finally looking up at him. “Yesterday, I thought I made things perfectly clear.”

“You did,” Daniel agreed.

Harper stared up at him in disbelief. “So … why are you here?”

“After you left yesterday, I thought hard about what you said,” Daniel explained. “What stood out the most is that you finally admitted that you like me.”

“Ugh.” She sighed. “You totally missed the point of everything I said.”