"Father," Samantha said, "I told you how we met a couple of weeks ago."

"I have heard your version of the events Samantha. Now I want to hear Howard's."

Howie swallowed hard as he began to relay the events of a few short weeks ago. "My group and I were in Carmel to shoot a video for our next single. We had been told Carmel was a quiet place where we would be able to film with little intrusion. Somehow a local radio station found out we where we were going to be filming and we were forced to postpone the shoot until crowd control could be assembled. I was tired of being cooped up in a hotel room so I decided to go find a place to eat. Both the hotel as well as the cab driver recommended a restaurant called Jaycee's so I thought I would give it a try." He looked across the table at Samantha who was pushing her food around her plate but didn't appear to be eating anything. "The restaurant was packed. I started to leave but the cab had already pulled away so I went back in. I noticed Samantha was alone so I decided to ask her if she mind my joining her."

Keir shot Samantha a look that would have frozen the sun. "Do you pull this routine often Howard? Using your fame to pick up innocent girls?"

"Father!" Samantha cried out.

She was silenced before she could continue by another stone cold look from her father. "It is an honest question that I think deserves an answer Samantha." He looked at Howie waiting for him to answer.

"Actually sir," Howie began. "I had never been tempted to ask before that night. Usually my friends or my family are with me. I don't like to eat alone and I guess Samantha looked like she wouldn't freak out over who I am and I was definitely motivated by hunger!" His laugh was greeted by a smirk from Samantha and joined with laughter from various members of her family.

"He didn't have to worry about my freaking out over who he is. I had no clue who he was at the time. I thought he was either someone Carrie had sent over to keep me company or someone who had seen me around town and wanted to hit on me!"

"I was neither. I was just a hungry guy from out of town." Howie laughed again. "Samantha had the menu memorized and was excellent help in selecting food." He caught Samantha's eye before resuming his story. "Unlike tonight, she actually ate that night."

"I am not very hungry tonight." Samantha replied quietly.

"Samantha you haven't eaten all day! Do you want to..." he stopped short, not wanting to argue with Samantha in front of her family. "Just please eat something sweetheart."

"If she isn't hungry then she doesn't need to stuff herself." Keir defended Samantha. "Besides she looks like she has put on some weight since I saw her at Christmas. She could probably skip a few meals and lose some of the weight she has gained."

The table fell silent after Keir finished his speech.