Seer (The Seeker Series Book 3) by Amy Reece Page B

Albuquerque for a few weeks already?”
    “Yeah. When I found out you were in Europe, I decided to stick around until you got back. I wasn’t going to take a chance on missing you,” he said quietly. Sheesh. That was a nice thing to say. It was hard to not like him when he said stuff like that.
    “So, where do you live?”
    “In Dallas. I’m in commercial real estate. I’ve been doing some business here in New Mexico for the last few weeks.”
    “Are you married? Do you have, um, other kids?” It was kind of an awkward question, but I wondered how he was able to hang around here waiting for me.
    “No.” He shook his head. “I was married once, a long time ago, but no kids. No other kids, I mean. Sorry. I’m not used to, um, you know.”
    “Suddenly finding out that you’re a dad?”
    He looked up. “Yeah. It doesn’t come up every day.” We both chuckled. “Listen, Ally, I don’t want this to be weird.”
    “Well, that ship already sailed.” This time we both laughed out loud. “So, um, crap. I don’t even know what I should call you.”
    “How about Josh?”
    I smiled. “Sure, okay. So, Josh, what do you say we go get some pancakes or something? I’m starving and I bet this conversation would be so much better on a full stomach.”
    “God, that would be great,” he said, slumping in relief. “I was so nervous about meeting you that I couldn’t even keep coffee down this morning.”
     
    ***
     
    I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Mina and Rémy sitting in a booth at the IHOP as Josh and I walked in.
    —Are you all right, chérie? Rémy asked silently.
    —Fine. I’m doing okay. We’re just getting acquainted. I guess.
    —We’re here if you need us, Ally. This from Mina.
    —Thanks, Mina. It’s okay. I just need to get to know him.
    “Ally?” Josh waited for my answer to some unknown question.
    “Sorry. What?”
    “Booth or table?”
    “Um, booth.” The hostess seated us in a booth near Rémy and Mina, but I shut both of them out of my head so I could concentrate on my father. We were both silent as we studied the menu. After a few minutes, I glanced up to see him staring at me.
    “Sorry,” he looked down quickly. “You just—”
    “What?”
    “You look so much like my grandmother.”
    “Excuse me? I look like a grandmother?”
    “No,” he said, laughing. “Like my grandmother. Like pictures I’ve seen of her when she was young. She was beautiful and had the same red hair. I can’t believe I have such a beautiful daughter.”
    “Thanks. That’s really nice.” His staring made me uncomfortable; he seemed to understand and stopped when I looked everywhere but at him. “So that’s where I got this hair, huh? I’ve always wondered.”
    The waitress came to take our orders, putting a momentary halt to our conversation. Once she left, he picked it up again. “So, your mom said that you already graduated from high school, a year early? You must be pretty smart. And you’re going to start at the university this fall? Any idea what you want to study?”
    “Um, I think I want to study English and education, maybe a double major. I’d like to teach high school English. I think.”
    “Well, that sounds great. What else do you do? What are your interests? What about friends? How about boyfriends?”
    “Whoa, slow down,” I said. “That’s a lot of questions.”
    “Sorry, sorry. I just feel like I missed so much of your life already. I want to catch up, but I guess pummeling you with questions isn’t the way to go about that, huh?”
    “No, I understand. I have a lot of questions for you too. How about we take turns? So, my interests. Well, um…” I paused to think. I couldn’t exactly tell him about my interests in the Seer world, so that limited my options. “I was a cheerleader this last year, mostly because I used to be a gymnast and I’m small. I was a flyer—you know, the one they throw around?”
    “Yeah. Wow, that’s great. Are you going