“No, I know that. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know,” Daniel said, watching her sip her drink. “So, you don’t usually leave for lunch, and you came to a diner even though you’re not hungry. What brings you here today?”

“I just needed a break.” She didn’t look at him directly, instead focusing on the thick black branches of his tattoo, which crept past the sleeve of his T-shirt and down his arm. “A friend of mine is missing.”

“What’s the deal with you?” Daniel teased. “First your sister goes missing, now your friend.” Harper gave him a hard look, and his smile vanished. “Sorry. What happened?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “He’s more of a friend of a friend, but we dated a few times. And he just went missing on Monday.”

“Oh, is he that kid from the paper?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah.” Harper nodded. “I just read about it before I came here, and I just needed to … not think about it anymore.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up, then.”

“No, it’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“How is your sister, by the way?” Daniel asked, changing the subject.

“Good, I think,” Harper said, then gave him a rueful smile. “I haven’t even properly thanked you for helping me find her yesterday.”

“You thanked me plenty.” He waved off her apology. “I’m just glad she’s all right. Gemma seems like a good kid.”

“She used to be,” Harper agreed. “But I don’t know what’s going on with her anymore.”

“I’m sure she’ll turn out all right. You raised her right.”

“You make it sound like I’m her mother.” Harper laughed somewhat uncomfortably. Daniel just looked at her and shrugged. “You think I act like her mother?”

“I don’t think you act like you’re eighteen,” he clarified.

She bristled as if he’d accused her of something terrible. “I have a lot to worry about.”

He nodded. “I can tell.”

Harper rubbed the back of her neck and turned away from him. Through the diner window she could see the library across the street, and she wondered how well Marcy was holding up.

“I should probably get back,” Harper said, and she reached into her pocket for her money.

“No, no.” Daniel waved his hand. “I got this. Don’t worry about it.”

“But I thought this was my IOU meal for the ice cream.”

“I was just kidding. I’ll pay.”

“Are you sure?” Harper asked.

“Yeah,” he said, laughing at her guilt-stricken expression. “If it bothers you so much, I’ll let you pay for it some other time.”

“What if we don’t ever eat together again?” Harper asked, eyeing him skeptically.

“Then we don’t.” He shrugged. “But I think we will.”

“Okay,” she said, because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. “Thank you for the Coke.”