"Nope," he said, his eyes fixed on the TV.

“Make whatever you like, pumpkin. I'm sure it'll be great."

“Thanks, Daddy," she left the room, trying, and failing, to keep a sensual strut from punctuating her stride.

Screw it. I hope he was watching.

SHR

Rachel watched Sarah exit, smiling as she felt Josh relax against her.

He might have been able to hide it from his daughter, but after over twenty years together, she could tell how nervous Sarah was making him.

How he didn't dare let his eyes rest on her for too long, for fear of giving away his feelings.

"Good looking girl, our daughter," she hinted.

"Yup," he said. "Oh, look! We've still got Mythbusters in the DVR queue. Sweet! I wonder if it was Alex or Sarah who recorded the shows."

“It was me, actually," she said.

“It was something to have playing in the background when I was working at home. And there was something cathartic about coming back from the office and watching them blow crap up. Especially after a bad day. But we were talking about Sarah."

“Were we?" he said absently. He chose a program and settled back to watch.

"Yes," she said firmly. "We were." she pulled the remote out of his hand and paused the program.

“I thought we weren't going to do this any more," she said warningly.

“You know. Where I try to have a conversation and you ignore me because you don't want to talk about it?

Remember that? Christmas? Let's not have a repeat."

Josh opened his mouth to protest, then paused. He nodded slowly. "Your daughter told me the same thing yesterday," he said.

“Okay, let's talk."

Rachel smiled, pleased. "Sarah is a good-looking young woman," she said.