Yes, it worked

Amorina smiled warmly at her father and she gave him another kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, papa!"

Tom nodded as she got out of the car and, spotting a few other girls, she moved off to the gym for practice, though she turned and waved at him one last time. A few more moments after she disappeared into the building, Tom glanced at his phone and noticed a text message reminder from Arianna, the middle daughter, telling him to pick her up from swim practice. He sighed and pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the pool.

Two hours later, having picked up Alianna from the library and her study group, Tom swung back to the high school and spotted his eldest talking with a group of her friends, a blonde and an Asian girl, both of whom had noticed Tom's arrival and whispered, hiding their smiles and glances behind their hands and phones. He just pretended not to notice. "Hey, sorry I'm late, had to pick up your sisters. Practice over?"

"Oh, we were..."

"Yes, practice went very well." A voice came from behind the girls as the cheerleading coach stepped forward. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Saunders. You must be very proud of Amorina here, she's taken to being Captain like a natural." Tom smiled as Amorina's cheeks flushed slightly, though from the praise of the coach or the fact that Tom smiled in her direction, he wasn't quite sure. To test his theory, Tom reached out and brushed her cheek ever so gently, what in appearance was a fatherly touch, and her slight shiver and reddening of the cheeks told him enough. "Think our squad can take state easily."

"I'm glad to hear that, Ms. Norman."

The woman smiled at him before Tom hefted up the bag that was at his daughter's feet and lead her back to the car, saying his goodbyes to her friends and the coach one more time before they hopped in and drove out of the parking lot. Tom watched as the three girls were talking, though Amorina's cheeks were still a bit flushed and he spotted her glancing at him a few times. Luckily, the drive went quickly before anything could happen and the two younger girls quickly hopped out of the car and went into the house. It was only after that, once he pulled out again under the pretense of going to the store for groceries did he turn to her. "Sarah, wake up."