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I handed Sharon the phone and headed upstairs. I was in my room barely half a minute when Dad appeared and stood in my doorway. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Is it that obvious?”

He nodded.

“I broke up with Logan,” I told him.

He came into the room and sat on my desk chair. “I’m not surprised.”

His not being surprised surprised me. “Why not?” I asked.

“I thought I noticed a certain lack of enthusiasm lately when Logan was around.”

I was impressed. I didn’t think Dad was that observant. And I didn’t even know I’d been acting unenthusiastic.

“Logan’s great,” I said. “But he’s just…I don’t know… too much.”

“I suppose you did what you thought was best,” he said. “But if that’s true, then why are you so upset?”

“Because I’ve really hurt him.”

“Someone always gets hurt in a breakup,” said Dad. “But he’ll get over it.”

“I guess I’m disappointed too,” I added. “Deep down, I always thought Logan and I would be like Sharon and you.”

Dad smiled. “It wasn’t all that smooth,” he reminded me. I knew the story. Sharon’s parents had thought Dad wasn’t good enough for Sharon, so they sent her off to college in California just to separate her from him. That’s where she met and married Dawn’s father and had Dawn and Jeff. But then they divorced, and Sharon and the kids returned to Stoneybrook – where Dawn and I learned about our parents’ past. (We were looking through Sharon’s high school yearbook.) We arranged for my dad and Sharon to meet again. And the rest is romantic history.

“Maybe things will work out for you and Logan in the end,” Dad suggested, “just as they did for Sharon and me.”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think Logan can change that much.”

Dad stood up. “Who knows? Life is funny.” He kissed me on the top of my head. “Good night, honey. Try not to think about it anymore tonight. Get some rest.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said as he walked out.