“I don’t,” Harper insisted, but she wouldn’t even look at Gemma. “Why would I like him? I don’t even really know him. And he lives on a boat and doesn’t have a real job. And I barely know him. We’ve barely spoken.”

“Oh, my gosh, Harper.” Gemma rolled her eyes. “You like him, and from the way I’ve seen him put up with your crap, I’m guessing he likes you, too. What’s the big deal?”

“It isn’t a big deal. There’s no deal at all.” Harper squirmed under her sister’s accusation. “He’s nice, I guess, but I’m going away for college—”

“That’s over two months away,” Gemma said, cutting her off before Harper could launch into her going-away-for-college routine. “Nobody’s suggesting you marry the guy. Just have some fun. Summer romance. Live a little.”

“I’m not not living.” Harper tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry if I don’t see the point in fooling around with some guy for a few weeks. If I weren’t leaving in the fall, it would be different.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Gemma corrected her. “Before this, you couldn’t date because you had to take care of me or keep your grades up for school. Now it’s because you’ll be leaving for college, and once you’re at college you won’t have time for a relationship until after you graduate, and then you won’t have time because you’re looking for a job, and then it’ll be something else.”

“Well…” Harper twisted her ring on her finger. “All those things are true.”

“Not really. Lots of other people somehow manage to go to school and have a life,” Gemma said. “Everything I listed there, those are just excuses.”

“Concentrating on school is a valid life decision,” Harper argued. “We didn’t have money for college, and if I hadn’t worked my butt off to get that scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to go.”

“No, I know.” Gemma sighed. “But you’ve been using both me and school as a shield to keep you from getting close to people. I’m not always gonna be around to act as a buffer. Someday you need to have real relationships with other people or you’ll risk ending up alone.”

“Wow.” Harper laughed darkly. “You make me sound like an old maid.”

“No, you’re not. I don’t think that, even. I just … all I’m saying is that maybe spending some time with Daniel this summer wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”