by Josie Kerr
“Hi, Buddy,” she said, not caring that the informal address was inappropriate. “How are you?”
“I’m okay. You?”
“I’m okay.” He fidgeted some more. “I take it that Natalie’s not here yet.”
“Um, no. No, she’s not. We have a few minutes until . . .”
Buddy grunted and pulled out his phone. “I appreciate you waiting on us, but that’s not fair to you. I’m sure you have things to do other than waiting on tardy parents,” he muttered while rapidly texting. “Hopefully, she’s on her way.”
“Let’s give her a few more minutes.” Molly blew out a breath. This was even more awkward than she’d anticipated, and Natalie hadn’t even arrived. She revised her boozy milkshake to simply booze.
Buddy and Molly made small talk until Buddy grunted and said, “Fuck it. Sorry. She’s not going to show. Let’s get this over with.”
“Oh, um, okay.” Molly opened Lucy’s schoolwork folder, a little stung by Buddy’s gruff dismissal. This is not about you, Molly. Get a friggin’ grip.
They spent the next half hour talking about Lucy, both in and out of school. Molly was very careful with her choice of words, and she sensed that Buddy was holding his tongue as well. He kept checking his phone, his irritation more apparent as each excruciating minute ticked by. Finally, when they’d discussed everything they needed to regarding Lucy, Molly put them out of their misery and ended the conference.
“Yeah, I need to round up Lucy and get her home before it gets too much later,” Buddy said, getting up from the small table. Molly walked with him to the door, where he paused.
“I wish circumstances were different,” he said.
“I do, too. But, you know, they’re not.” She shrugged.
Buddy nodded and, with a light squeeze to her wrist, made his way down the hall. She watched as he walked down the corridor, shoulders slumped and apparently defeated. When he reached the end, though, he turned and lifted his hand in a farewell before he rounded the corner.
Molly slumped against the doorjamb, feeling like she was a teenager in the throes of a crush. What a craptastic day this had been. Nothing overwhelmingly catastrophic, but in a way, that just made it worse. She’d rather have one really terrible event, like Boone showing up at her house, than an endless string of mildly dissatisfying days.
“Miss Mayhew?”
She should know better than to borrow trouble, wishing for a truly crappy day, because the last time she heard the voice that just called her name, she counted it as the worst day of her adult life. She straightened up and stood tall, though, determined not to have a repeat of last year’s spring teacher conferences.
“Mrs. Cash.” Molly’s voice sounded steady, but she hoped she wasn’t screaming because her blood rushing in her ears muffled everything.
The woman shook her head. “No, not Mrs. Cash—it’s James now. I took my maiden name back when the divorce was finalized.” She took a deep breath. “I owe you an apology, Miss Mayhew.”
“Molly, please. Miss Mayhew is for professional situations, and there’s nothing about this situation that’s professional.”
Boone’s ex-wife winced at Molly’s sharp words. “Right.” She exhaled loudly, and Molly realized that this woman just might be more uncomfortable than she was. “I realize there’s absolutely nothing I can do to rectify the wrongs that resulted from my inexcusable display of . . . whatever that was . . . but I want you to know I am truly, truly sorry for not placing the blame where it needed to be, which was on Boone and myself. It’s not your fault that he’s a philandering ass. If I could take back every word I shrieked that afternoon, I would.”
Molly was stunned. “Thank you,” she said with a little laugh of disbelief. “I . . . just, thank you.”
“You know, when I saw your photo in the New Hires section of the school newsletter, I almost threw up. Not because you were at Hembree Springs, but because I finally admitted to myself that Boone was never going to change and that this is all a game to him. Has he come by to see you?”
Molly barked a laugh. “Yes, he has, several times in fact. He seemed to think that because he’s a ‘free man’ now, I was going to jump right back into his bed. You know he accused me of leading him on?” She shook her head. “He’s a piece of work.”
“You did it.”
“What?”
“You broke his nose, didn’t you?”
“Um, maybe?” Molly smiled sheepishly. “I might have thrown a casserole at him.”
Vanessa’s mouth dropped open, and then she began hooting with laughter. Molly thought the woman was going to hyperventilate because she was laughing so hard.
“Oh my Lord, you’re my hero, Molly Mayhew. Boone will probably never contact you again—his ego won’t allow it. I can only hope he’s finally learned his lesson.” Vanessa wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed. “I hope you’re having a nice life, Molly. You deserve it.”
Molly nodded. “I hope you’re happy, too, Vanessa.”
Vanessa nodded back and, with a little smile and a wave, walked away from Molly. Molly did have a nice life. She had her health, a job she loved, and a supportive family. Sure, there might be romance in her future, but for now, this was her reality, and she was going to make the best of it.
Chapter Twenty-nine
“But what if I don’t want to go to Natalie’s, Daddy? Maude said that Emily and Ava and Rose are coming over and she wants me to come over. She said it would be fine with Uncle C and Auntie Bailey.”
Buddy spooned the scrambled eggs onto Lucy’s plate while he considered a diplomatic way to answer his daughter. He knew full well she didn’t want to go over to her mother’s and in fact had been more and more resistant to spending time with her. She seemed to be fine once she got there, and of course, if Buddy thought that his beloved daughter was ever going to be in a dangerous situation, he’d immediately cancel any and all visitation. But Natalie seemed to be really trying to cultivate a relationship with Lucy, and he couldn’t interfere with that.
“Sweet pea, your mother hasn’t seen you all week. She misses you,” he said, hoping that was truly the case.
He suppressed the nagging voice in his head that reminded him that Natalie missed the parent-teacher conference the day before and hadn’t offered an explanation. In fact, he hadn’t heard from his ex in a few days, which was actually odd. Usually Natalie had touched base about drop-off plans by this point in the week.
Lucy pushed her eggs around on her plate. “I don’t like going over there.”
Buddy sat down at the kitchen table with his own plate of eggs and toast but didn’t eat. “Why don’t you like going over there? What happens?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “She doesn’t have any books at all, so if I run out of things to read, I’m stuck with the same ol’ stuff I just finished, and that’s no fun. There’re only so many times I can read the same thing.”
Buddy grinned at his daughter’s complaint but could understand her frustration. He made a mental note to suggest that Natalie take Lucy to the library. That would be a perfect outing for the two of them.
“And none of her friends seem to want me around except for Skip. And Skip really doesn’t talk to me, he just doesn’t ignore me.”
“Who’s Skip? Is he the guy who was over there when I picked you up a few weeks ago?”
“He’s got big white teeth and shiny, shiny hair.” She finally ate a bite of eggs. “He’s nice. He has a boat that he took me and Natalie on.”
Buddy paused. A boat ride? Lucy was not a strong swimmer. Yet another something to talk to Natalie about. He was beginning to think that a lunch to discuss things needed to be scheduled. Natalie’s ringtone interrupted further questioning, and Lucy rolled her eyes.
“Speak of the devil,” Buddy said and immediately regretted his words when Lucy’s eyes got huge. “No, sweet pea, Natalie’s not the devil. It’s just an expression. Hey, Nat.”
Buddy rubbed his hands over his face as
he listened to Natalie blather on about weekend on-location shooting and long hours.
“So you’re saying it would be better if Lucy didn’t come this weekend.” Buddy moved out of the kitchen and into the living room, but he could see Lucy looking suspiciously at him, egg-laden fork paused in the air. He mimed for her to continue eating, and she huffed but went back to eating. “Yeah, I’m listening.”
He finished talking to Natalie and made another phone call, then rejoined Lucy at the kitchen table.
“Well, good news, Lucy. Your mother has to work out of town this weekend, so—”
Lucy squealed and launched herself out of the chair. “I get to go to Maude’s! I better get my stuff ready.”
Buddy caught the back of her pajama top and deposited her back in her chair. “Finish eating, and then you can get stuff together. Remember, you’re not in school today, so—”
“I get to go over to Móraí and Daideo’s!” And she was off. Buddy had no hope of her finishing breakfast now that she learned she was going over to Sheila and Paddy’s. He quickly finished his own breakfast and the rest of hers, cleaned up the plates, and headed into the bedroom to start his own day.
*****
After a smooth drop-off at Sheila and Paddy’s, where Lucy raced to join the loving chaos that was the Doyles’ house on a teacher workday, Buddy sat looking at the matchmaker board and thinking about Molly. He’d wanted so much to slam that classroom door shut and kiss her until she couldn’t see straight, but he didn’t think she would appreciate it. He already felt guilty about not really seeing her after they’d essentially had sex. And of course, having that afternoon in his mind made him think about her coming apart in his hands.
“Buddy, we need to talk.” Colin strode into the office and sprawled out on one of the chairs across from Buddy’s desk.
“Uh, sure. What’s going on?”
Colin frowned. “You okay, dude? You look . . . funny.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s been an interesting morning.” And I have a raging hard-on because I’ve been thinking about feeling up my daughter’s teacher on her couch. “What’s up?”
“Well, you know we’ve been tapped as a finalist for this competition show, right?”
Buddy nodded. “Yeah, though they’re sure taking their time in announcing shit.”
“Well, a decision has been made, and we’re in.”
“But?”
“But the team we’ll be facing is Raptor. I’m talking to all the guys individually about this, because you know how shit goes down with these fucks.”
Buddy nodded again. He sure as shit knew how things went down with Raptor, especially where DS Fight Club was involved. There was a lot of bad blood between the two clubs, especially since half of Raptor’s championship roster and his best trainer had absconded to Colin’s gym.
“If we do decide to do this—and I do mean we—it’ll be a group decision. I’m going to make sure the personal drama is kept to a minimum. Limited spousal coverage and absolutely no kids.”
“Good. That’s a hard limit for me. Natalie tried to pull a fast one with Lucy, and I about lost my shit.” Buddy cracked his neck. “How hypocritical would it be of me to be okay with Lucy being on a show I was involved with?”
“How’s that going? Things all right?”
Buddy decided his brother-in-law deserved his candor. “It’s . . . okay. Lucy doesn’t like to go over there. We actually had a discussion about it this morning. I know Lucy sometimes seems like a little old lady in a five-year-old’s body, but she is still just a kid. And Natalie doesn’t really get kids, I don’t think.”
“You still seeing her teacher?”
“What?”
Colin looked confused. “Am I totally off base? For some reason, I thought you’d gone out or were going out or something?”
“Or something. Yeah, I think I kind of blew that whole thing. We had a date, and then Natalie insisted on being very Natalie, and Lucy was really upset. I’ve spent the past month wrangling their relationship.” Buddy snorted. “Okay, what’s that look about?”
“I know I’m not the most relationship-savvy guy—no laughing, Thomas—but it seems to me that you showing Lucy you have other adult relationships that are healthy wouldn’t be a bad thing. I mean, my dad didn’t date at all—I never saw him with a woman. Yet I find out after he died that he’d had a long-term relationship with a . . . professional lady. But as far as I know, he was her only client. Anyway, it was some sort of weird, long-term thing, but it would have done me a hell of a lot of good to see him interact with someone on a personal level. Hell, maybe that’s why I am the way I am, right?”
“And what are you, C?” Buddy asked with a laugh.
“A socially clueless behemoth who luckily moved next door to a woman who happens to like socially clueless behemoths.” He grinned. “I’m just saying, I think you need to consider that your self-care might be what’s best for Lucy, too.” Colin paused. “I can’t believe I just used the term ‘self-care.’ What the hell?”
Buddy cackled. “Never change, man. Never change.”
“Okay, bud, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Most likely there’ll be a meeting early next week, and we’ll have a full discussion.” Colin clapped his hands once. “By the way, you need to ask that teacher out again,” he said before he left the office. “Don’t be a chickenshit.”
Buddy chuckled. “Yeah, I get you, C. Now leave.”
Buddy could hear Colin laughing as he went down the hall. Crazy asshole. But he probably had a point about the whole “healthy adult relationship” thing. And the “self-care” thing. And probably a whole lot of other things. Maybe he’d approach Molly next time he ran into her at the gym. Just something casual. Yeah.
Chapter Thirty
Molly didn’t think she’d ever had a more unproductive nonstudent workday in her almost-twenty-year career as an educator. Interminable meetings followed by a frustrating afternoon of attempting and failing to set up a hydroponic garden put Molly in a peevish mood. At dinner that night, her father actually told her she needed to adjust her attitude, and her mother said she needed to get laid. Molly figured she needed both, and with no prospects for the latter, she stayed in a crappy mood for the rest of the weekend.
Monday morning didn’t start off much better. She’d spilled coffee in her lap in the school parking lot, and there was no way she’d make it home and back in time for the first bell. She merely sucked it up and played dumb when someone mentioned the stain on her crotch and thigh. Then there was a fire drill. She hated fire drills. She understood the necessity of them, but, boy, she hated them. The only good thing was that the rain started after they’d returned to the classroom.
After the fire drill, the students began working on their art projects. Molly milled around the classroom, murmuring encouragements to the students, who were all diligently working on their collages while soft music played in the background. The music combined with the steady sound of rain created a soothing background, and Molly could practically feel the stress melting away.
“Ms. Mayhew? Please send Lucy Thomas to the front desk to be checked out,” the school secretary’s voice crackled over the intercom.
“I will. Thank you.”
Molly watched Lucy’s face carefully. It was obvious the girl didn’t plan to be checked out. “You okay, Lucy?”
Lucy nodded. “Mm-hmm. I thought my eye appointment was next week, but I’m supposed to try to be more flexible, so I’ll roll with it,” she said matter-of-factly as she gathered up her art supplies. “Do I need to bring my book bag?”
“Let me check with Ms. Anderson.”
Molly typed a quick direct message on the school’s messaging system and confirmed that Lucy didn’t need her bag. Molly relayed the information to Lucy and then saw Lucy and her sparkly purple purse on her way.
The remainder of the school day passed quickly, thanks to some excitement with a loose hamster in the next room and th
e discovery of a chipmunk nest on the playground. By the time the dismissal bell rang, Molly decided she never wanted to see any sort of small rodent again. She was tidying up the room, scooting in chairs and picking up a few stray books left over from individual reading time, when she heard the unmistakable chirp of a text message notification, though it wasn’t hers. She looked around the room and noticed Lucy’s book bag still in her cubby. The little girl had not returned from her appointment. With a growing sense of dread, Molly searched Lucy’s backpack and pulled out a very basic flip phone, which she opened, and saw a record of a few missed texts. Then the phone rang.
Seeing the contact “Daddy,” Molly picked up the call, but Buddy began asking questions before she could speak.
“Lucy, where are you?” Buddy sounded frantic.
“Buddy, this is Molly. Lucy left her book bag here when she got checked out.”
“Checked out? Who the hell checked her out? Never mind, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Molly was out the door before he even hung up. She jogged down the hall to the front desk, where she saw Maude and a visibly agitated Sheila Doyle.
“Nancy, who checked Lucy out?” Molly asked, the small flip phone still clutched in her hand.
“That feckin’ mother of hers,” Sheila snarled.
Nancy, the school secretary who doubled as an attendance clerk, visibly paled. “Her name is on the authorized list. I didn’t even think twice about it.”
“Well, you should have,” Sheila snapped. “I know, I know. I’m not being helpful, but so help me, if I even get a whiff of impropriety, that woman will wish she never set foot in Atlanta.”
“Mrs. Doyle,” Molly gently warned with a nod toward Maude, who was searching the faces of each of the adults around her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Sorry.” The woman blew a breath out. “But I’m serious.”
“Oh, I believe you,” Molly replied with a nervous chuckle.
Buddy burst through the door, his face a mask of concerned fury. He had his phone up to his ear, but Molly could see he wasn’t hearing what he needed to hear. “Straight to voicemail. I’m sure she didn’t charge the phone. She never charges her phone. Goddammit.” He scrubbed his face with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone. “As of right now, Natalie Rabineaux has no check-out privileges.”
