Your turn

Seeing Ashlee leave, Jeff's shoulders droop just a little bit and he lets the spoon slide off his nose. He was far from offended or crushed, but he was just a tad disappointed. It was pretty obvious his hunch had been right - Ashlee really wasn't enjoying herself tonight.

Taking a moment to pay the waiter, Jeff turns his attention back to Stacy and shrugs. "Don't sweat it. Maybe I just wasn't thinking." A wry grin surfaces. "I tend to do that sometimes. Not think, that is."

Taking a final sip of water, he shakes his head. "As far as I can tell you've done a right good job raising your daughter. Sometimes they grow up faster than we want but... we can't walk around blaming ourselves." Glancing down for a moment, he grows probably more serious than he had all evening. "I suppose I think about Katie a lot when I see Ashlee. It was about her age that Katie started making some bad choices because she felt unloved at home. I always blamed myself for that."

He looks up again, catching Stacy's eye. "But from what I see, the one thing Ashlee doesn't feel is unloved. And that says something."

Standing up, he looks over his shoulder at the exit. "Give me just a minute or two, will ya?" He turns back to smile at her. "I just don't give up easily enough."

Heading for the door, he makes it outside into the cool evening air. The sky was a hazy dark color after the sun had finally set. Glancing left then right, he spots Ashlee waiting near the pickup. Ambling up to her, he leans back on the truck and sighs. Folding his arms, he stares up at the few stars that had started to appear. His goofiness was gone. "I asked your mom for just a minute so I could talk to you," he explains. "I just wanted to thank you for coming tonight. I know you didn't want to." He glances out of the corner of his eye at her. "But then, I never did have much practice with girls and what they like to do. So it was probably my fault for choosing where we went."

Pausing, he finally turns to look down at her eyes. "But I do appreciate you coming along with your mom. I know she loves having you around and I'm sure she enjoyed herself more because you were here."

He offers her a small smile. "Maybe if there's something you'd rather do sometime... it can be your turn to pick. What do ya think?"