Michael Bassett sat across the table from Anna, his sixteen-year-old daughter. When he looked at her, he saw a little girl with blonde hair and brown eyes which were almost too big for her face. She always had a smile and a hug for her dad even after he had moved out of the house and they passed her between him and Shelby on a schedule. The schedule was still in place and it was his night.

Her hair had darkened to a light brown was between her mother's blonde and his. He had a color which Anna called chestnut. He didn't know what it was, but she commented she wished she had it. Shelby had paid for streaks in Anna's hair which he hated because it made her look too grown up. She was always trying to look older than she was.

Her face had long since grown into her brown orbs and the roundness was gone. If he really looked at her, he would see she was beautiful, but the thought made his gut clench. He hated the idea of horny teenage boys pawing at his baby girl.

Anna was smiling as they finished their dinner, because she had just passed her driving test and had her license. It was one more thing that made Mike's gut tighten. He had been called to more accidents involving inexperienced teen driver than he could count over the years. Some were minor, but he witnessed a few fatals that had shaken his typically steady nerves.

Mike had been fire chief in their small town of Turner, Ohio for two years, ever since his best friend deserted him and moved to Maine. He would move too if he found a woman to love him like Bryan had with Alison. Every time they spoke Mike was reminded his friend was too damn happy.

Meanwhile, Mike was feeling old for his thirty-five years, as he looked at his daughter who just yesterday was a baby.

"So Daddy, I'm gonna go out, 'kay?"

"Are you driving?" He felt a pressure in his temples.

"Yeah, that's why Mom bought me a car, so I could go where I need to go."

Mike's small house was in town and Anna could walk to the diner or the movie theater, but there wasn't much else to do. He knew firsthand the boredom of small towns caused kids to get into trouble. Case in point was the fact he became a father at nineteen. He thought he was just having fun the summer after he graduated high school before he planned to go to Ohio State. Instead, he ended up stuck in Turner and marrying Shelby who was hot as hell. Getting along while hanging around drinking by the lake with friends and screwing was a lot different from building a life and a lasting commitment.

They made a go at it for five years until finally they were both miserable. He hadn't had a serious relationship since then, but he hadn't been a monk either. Most recently, he had been seeing Nadine, who was a real estate agent in town. She was nice and scratched an itch, but he didn't see a future with her.

"Where are you going?"

"To hang out at a friend's. I promise I'll be home by eleven. I'll text you when I get there and again when I leave. I know you worry." She smiled and stood to bring her plate to the sink.

He knew he should ask her which friend, but truthfully he couldn't keep them all straight. Half were named Katie and the other half Bella. Anna would talk about them like he knew the difference and grew annoyed when he didn't. Since Turner was a small town, their high school was regional and combined with three other towns. Her friends' houses were throughout the region.

Shelby had recently moved out of Turner when she started cohabitating with her boyfriend. He was a boss at the insurance company where she worked and had a big house to go with his salary that made Mike's chief's one seem miniscule. He noticed that Anna had changed since she officially started living in the wealthier of the three towns.

She walked over to Mike and kissed his forehead. "Daddy, you need to get used to it. I'm growing up."

"Some day you'll be sorry that you grew up too fast. Slow down because from where I'm standing being sixteen is a whole lot better."

He wanted to tell her she had a brighter future than his reality, but he preferred not to remind her of the things he missed because she came along. Truthfully he loved his job and his life except that he was lonely.

She disappeared and when she came out she had on makeup which made her look twenty.

She wore a shirt that fell well above her belly button and her jeans were ripped. Thank goodness his hard earned money didn't buy jeans that came with rips in it. When he looked closer, he noticed her shirt did not cover her lace bra straps as they looped around the back of her neck.

"You need to put some clothes on." He was too young to be dealing with this.

"Dad, this is what everyone wears."

"Wear a coat! It's winter. If you were to breakdown, you would freeze before I could get to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Dad!"

"Anna, it's not optional." He rarely used an authoritative voice with her, but it was effective as she grabbed her coat off the hook. Even if she didn't wear it he wanted it in her car just in case.

"Text me and be careful! I love you." He hollered at her back.

She held up her hand and flashed the 'I love you' sign just before the door slammed behind her.

Mike sighed at the silence that engulfed him. The quiet only bothered him at certain times - when Anna should be with him but wasn't and immediately after she returned to her mother.

Slowly he stood and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the counters. He was at home in the kitchen and often cooked at the firehouse.

He grabbed his phone to send a text to his ex-wife. He had a text from Nadine asking if he was busy. As much as it tempted him, he never saw her on nights he had his daughter.

His text to Shelby was two-fold. The first was to ask what the new yogurt was that Anna had to have for breakfast and second to let her know that he didn't like what their daughter was wearing.

She replied with a picture of the yogurt and then some choice words about how he wouldn't know what was cool if it slapped him in the face.

Mike thought that was funny because her fiance, named George, dressed in drab colors - grays and browns. If you looked up the word nerd in the dictionary, George's high school picture would be there.

Ignoring her misplaced insult he added, if there are boys she's asking for it.

Shelby, who freaked out at any mention of Anna and boys replied, She knows better. She isn't repeating my mistake.

Mike refrained from reminding her that their beautiful daughter was her mistake. There was no way he could have any regrets. He loved Anna, and he truly tried to make a go of it with Shelby. He wished he could have avoided some very hostile years during and following the divorce. Emotions were high and Shelby had a bitchy friend giving her advice on how to screw him over.

Ironically, the past couple years or so had been extremely cordial. Things got better after he and Shelby had a little fling. A few years back, Anna went away to summer camp for two weeks. Shelby showed up drunk and made it very hard for Mike to resist her advances. They spent the two weeks getting each other out of their system. When Anna came home, it was over, but so was the hurt. It was the craziest thing. He couldn't have made that crap up.

Now she had George. Mike couldn't even think about what George was like in bed. He was something like forty-five and so thin on the top of his head he had a comb over. What happened to those hairs while he was going at it? Mike needed to stop his sick imagination.

He wasn't proud that he got his release from Nadine. He was definitely on borrowed time because her 'let's be casual' attitude was turning into something more. More was not in his plans for Nadine - he wasn't sure if there was a woman out there who could make him want more. She'd have to be damn near perfect but as far as he could tell the good ones were all taken.

He put on his coat to head out to Kroger. Anna had announced that she only ate a new yogurt for breakfast now so the sap that he was would have to get that yogurt.

He walked through the store and threw a few extra things in his hand-held basket. He was grabbing a jumbo Hershey's bar when he heard a voice behind him.

"What are you a woman? Alone on a Saturday night buying chocolate."

He turned to see Darlene, his best friend's sister. She had a cart overflowing with food including several boxes of sugary cereal.

"Is that cereal why your kids climb the walls? Why are you shopping on Saturday night?"

"It's quiet and I get away from my wall climbing boys. The ice cream is that way."

He laughed. "If your husband won't get jealous, I'll buy you an ice cream over at the diner and you could catch me up on everything."

Darlene always knew all the gossip around town. She looked at her watch. "Yeah... sure. I'll just text him to let him know. Too bad, I'll miss bedtime."

Darlene's two boys were five and six and were hellions. They were cute, but they were active and being thirteen months apart were double the trouble.

He waited while she checked out her large weekly shop and helped her load up the back of her SUV. Then they each drove over to the diner. When Mike entered, he felt the warm air scented with burgers. There were some kids Anna's age in a booth in the corner.

Tina called out and waved. "Sit anywhere sugar."

He walked away from the teenagers and slid into a booth. Darlene entered. "Hi ya Tina... Busy night?"

"Nah... too cold everyone is home." Tina owned the diner, which was the heart of Turner.

Mike was checking his phone. He didn't expect to hear from Anna after her simple text, here.

Ironically, he had a text from Bryan asking him to call. He stated he was having a quiet night at the station, but Mike knew that could change. He texted him back telling him he ran into his sister and would call him later.

"Your brother."

She smiled. "He's still so insanely happy. Sam too, thanks to the girlfriend."

"They've been together awhile. I figure it's just a matter of time before I'm dealing with boys."

"Anna's gorgeous. She probably already has boys sniffing around her."

Mike groaned. "I hope she picks a nice one like Sam."

"Yeah not like Bryan's stepson. I hear he's a pain in the tush. You still stringing along Nadine?"

"No strings attached." He added a big smile.

"Well ain't you proud. You're not gonna be smiling when you break her heart."

"She's right." Tina approached to take their order.

Darlene ordered a dish of chocolate but Mike asked for apple pie à la mode.

Mike changed the subject. "How's Brad?"

"Good, assuming he's talking to me since I deserted him at bedtime."

Mike smiled. "Deserted him for dessert. You'll be needing to make it up to him."

"I figured I'd bring him a slice of pie."

"With your boys that may not cut it. He may want the Saturday night special."

"Oh plah ... ease! With my boys, we're so exhausted our sex life is like Geico!"

"Geico?"

"You know... fifteen minutes or less."

Mike laughed so hard he thought he might shed some tears.

"You done being a hyena?" She tried to hide her smile but could never keep a straight face when she delivered a punchline. "Act surprised but Bryan's telling you they're coming for a visit in February."

"Cool. I get to see my best buddy and then he can rub it in my face just how damn happy he is."

"I know sick, huh?"

By the time they had eaten their desserts, Mike knew all the latest gossip. One piece of information sat uneasy with him. A girl just a year older than Anna was pregnant. If he judged it would be like the pot calling the kettle black, but it made him want to ask Shelby about birth control for Anna.

She's my baby girl, and she's growing up too fast.

A/N So we meet Mike and Anna. You may remember Darlene from Blending Christmas.

Thanks for reading. Posting a new story is always exciting for me.