It was Monday now, and a heavy rain battered against the enormous windows of the coffee shop. She'd gone to school, but remained quiet. Britt must have suspected the worst, but Ada just wasn't ready. After each class, Britt would find her and attempt to get information out of her. And after each class, Ada would deny her of it.

Tom was strong, at least strong enough to keep his emotions in check the best he could. His sadness in class was obvious. The distraction of furniture shopping faded and now all that remained was the reality ahead of her, the reality of now. He avoided looking at her throughout class, only a few brief glances her way. She knew eye contact between them would break them both, and it was not the place.

Breaking was imminent, Ada realized. Rather than 'five stages of grief' she was establishing her own 'stages of acceptance'. What they were, she had no idea. Ada remained caught in the stage of being slightly numb, mostly in a haze. She'd cried a little but knew the actual tears, the ruthless ones, were still ahead of her.

Britt was not strong. Ada loved her, but that was just how it was. She was fun, carefree and had never faced anything serious before. She'd begged Ada to tell her all day. However, ever since Mr. B's class, she was giving her the silent treatment once it became evident he knew, and she didn't.

She'd told Tom about twenty-eight hours ago, and it was too soon for Ada to endure the conversation again. Whether Britt liked it or not, Ada needed time.

The rain brought customers seeking refuge from the storm, and Ada welcomed it and took it all in stride. She was a well-oiled machine at work, taking care of anything and everything at a perfect ease as Peter sat in a corner booth near Tom doing his homework. They didn't know each other, but she told Tom who he was, so he monitored him and offered to help him with the assignments if he needed it.

Crystal wandered in and out, not having as much to do as she would like, but seeming to need to stay in case it got too busy or Ada lost it. It was unnerving being watched, but not surprising. At least Tom was grading papers while keeping his eye on her. Crystal was just staring from the doorway of the kitchen or through the kitchen window.

When the door chimed signaling the newest customer, Ada looked up and her body stiffened. Her father's steel-toed boots drowned out the faint music playing from the speakers, causing old western showdown type music to take over in her mind. He only gave her a momentary glance, then one to Peter before directing his eyes on the place she dreaded most.

He lugged the chair away from the table, causing a slight screech against the floor. Before sitting down, he looked like a giant compared to Tom, who hardly glanced up from his paperwork at the imposition.

Though her father was a gentle man, it was logical to fear him. He may have acted like a hippie, but was built and looked like a biker. He was 6'5" and 240 lbs. of muscle. His sizeable frame easily overshadowed Tom's. He was only gentle when you got to know him.

"You know who I am?"

Tom nodded and set his pen on the table. "You're Ada's dad. We met last year at that party for the newspaper."

Ada approached the table. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"I'm orderin' a coffee. Black."

"You drink your coffee with cream and sugar."

He looked over at Tom. "Black coffee is more intimidatin'."

"Are you trying to intimidate me, Mr. Sinclair?" Tom asked before arranging his elbows against the table and propping his chin against his clasped hands.

Crystal was the one to bring her father his coffee while Ada sat next to her brother, feeling utterly mortified.

"I don't gotta try, son."

"Dad, please don't do this," Ada pleaded.

"I talked to Crystal yesterday when I didn't know where my daughter disappeared to. She said Ada drove off with Tom. Now Ada was at her friend Tom's house 'til one or two in the mornin' on Wednesday, so my curiosity got the best of me and I asked Crystal 'bout this Tom fella. You wanna know what I found out? I found out that Tom wasn't someone my daughter went to school with, but a middle-aged, married teacher."

Tom unclasped his hands and finished his cup of coffee. "I think you have to be in your mid-forties to be considered middle-aged, don't you?"

"You gonna argue on a technicality?"

Tom shrugged. "If I was going to do that, I'd also argue that I'm no longer with my wife. But neither argument is relevant here because your daughter and I are just friends."

"Ada's mother and I was just friends while she was datin' my buddy. I think you can guess how that one turned out," her father argued while leaning back in his chair.

Tom's eyes narrowed. "I don't know how to even reply to that."

Crystal stood next to Ada. Most of the patrons were too fixated on the drama that was this conversation to need refills anyhow. "Jeff, go easy on him. He's not a bad guy."

Her father kept his eyes on his target. "So what kinda guy are you, Tom Bennet? Besides the guy who's friends with teenage girls?"

A snicker escaped him and Tom's face became full of an emotion Ada couldn't pinpoint, but everything about him seemed to change in an instant. The muscles in his face appeared to stiffen and his jaw clenched. He tapped his finger against his cup a few times before leaning in toward her father, holding firm eye contact.

"You can hate me, and that's fine. I bet you could even get me fired if you wanted to. But I'm going to keep being the guy who's friends with that teenage girl," he stated, pointing at her, "because I care about her. Always have and always will. I'm going to keep being friends with her after she graduates because you and I both know that her life is about to become a shit storm of complications and pain. And she's going to need someone to go to when those complications get the best of her and that pain borders on unbearable."

They stared at each other for what felt like forever, no emotion written on their faces and not so much as a flinch. It was the most bizarre thing she'd ever witnessed in person.

"You ain't scared of me, are ya?" Her father took a drink of his black coffee, grimacing at the strength.

Tom shrugged and grasped the cup in front of his opponent, taking down the entire beverage in three large swallows. It was a drinking contest without the booze. "I'd have to be stupid not to be at least a little scared of you, Mr. Sinclair, and I'm not a stupid man.

"Ada needs a friend that will stick by her when things get tough. You want to know what kind of guy I am? I'm that guy, whether you want me to be or not. So yeah, I'm scared of you. I'll own up to that. But you'll have to do a hell of a lot worse than this to scare me out of her life."

Ada watched as Tom took out his wallet and placed a ten on the table. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ada." He turned to her father. "And every day after that."

He left the table and her father called out after him before he reached the door.

"If you sleep with my daughter, I'm gonna take this size eleven steel-toed boot and break your balls with it. Then, while you're unconscious from the pain, I'm gonna cut you up into pieces with my chainsaw and toss you into Willow Lake."

Tom shook his head. "I don't know where Willow Lake is."

"No one does. That's the point." Her father picked up his coffee mug, then set it back down when he realized it was empty. "I want you to remember that image every time you so much as stand too close to my baby girl."

"Understood," Tom agreed as he reached for the handle.

Her father stood from the table. "You scared now?"

He shook his head again. "Not enough to stay away from her," he answered right before he left.

Jeff Sinclair sat back down. "He's got gumption, I'll give him that."

Ada joined her father at Tom's table and reached for his hand. "Please don't scare him away, dad."

"You never lie to me 'bout him, you got that?" Ada nodded. "If you're with him, I wanna know where and for how long."

It was the best outcome Ada could have hoped for, all things considered. So long as he allowed Tom to remain in her life, she'd concede to anything her father required of her. Because despite their roles in each other's lives, she realized she did need him if she was going to survive what he called the 'shit storm' that was her life.