Rinehart reached into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a stack of papers secured by a silver paper clip. He turned them toward me and slid them across his desk. “The offer we discussed, plus a few minor adjustments.”
I pulled the papers toward me. “Minor adjustments, huh?”
Rinehart nodded and pressed his fingertips together, eyeing me over the top of them. “Read it.”
I shifted in my seat and began reading the document. Rinehart had really pulled out all the stops here. There was everything in this offer from vacation time, to sick days, to leave, to flexible hours due to my needs as a single parent.
There was also a much higher salary noted on this sheet than I’d expected.
I frowned.
“What? Did I miss something?” Rinehart leaned forward and stretched himself up to peer down at the papers.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, it’s very thorough. I just had no idea this kind of salary was in the station’s budget.”
Rinehart’s mouth twitched in something that was almost a smile. “Well, I told you I would take care of you and make this worth your while. I know you would be well worth the cost, Mav. You’re an irreplaceable asset to this crew. I need you. The guys need you. And you should be compensated fairly. I just can’t do this unless it comes with the change in the job title. You understand?”
I nodded.
“Do you need time to think about it?” Rinehart pressed.
I considered the money, the flexibility, the responsibility. And then I considered the conversation I had with my grandmother yesterday. She’d said she was proud of me. And I wanted to be a father Olivette could be proud of, too.
“I don’t need more time.”
Rinehart’s eyebrows crept upward. “All right. What’s the verdict?”
I plucked a pen from the stand near his name plaque on the desk, popped the cap off, and poised it over the signature line on the bottom of the last page. “I accept.”
Rinehart clapped his hands together as I swept the pen across the page for my signature. I slid the documents back to him and gripped the armrests of my chair. “Is that it?”
Rinehart slid the papers back into his drawer. Then he stood and held out his hand. I got to my feet and shook it, unable to fight the smile stretching across my cheeks.
“That’s it,” Rinehart said, matching my grin. “You made the right call, Mav. You’re going to do good work here. Help a lot of people. I’m proud to have you as my lieutenant.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Now get the hell out of here. I’m sure those boys are chomping at the bit, waiting to hear your answer.”
Grinning like a fool, I stepped out into the hall and turned toward the kitchen. I hadn’t taken two steps when there was an explosion of sound as the guys yelled “Congratulations” and blew obnoxiously into party horns that one of them must have picked up at a dollar store.
I laughed as they pulled me into the kitchen for congratulatory handshakes.
Trace threw an arm around my shoulders. “Congrats, man. We’re stoked for you. And for us. We were worried an outside hire was gonna come in here and fuck up our vibe.”
“How did you know I’d say yes?” I asked.
“We didn’t,” Maddox chimed in.
“Just a hunch.” Allen shrugged.
“You’d be a dumbass to turn down an opportunity like that,” Hayden added.
“A fool, really,” Derek said, clasping my hand and shaking firmly. He clapped me on the shoulder with his other hand. “It’s the perfect fit for you, man. We all thought so. Rinehart was on our asses not to pressure you into saying yes.”
“Really?” I asked.
Trace laughed and nodded. “Oh yeah. Derek’s not lying. He had us all swear to let you make the call on your own without our persuasion. It’s been a pain in the ass.”
“Good thing you said yes.” Hayden laughed. “Now, we have celebratory drinks. Non-alcoholic beer or non-alcoholic champagne. I know. I know. It’s a wild party. But the good news is there’s pizza coming for lunch.”
“I’ll take a fake beer.” I laughed.
And in less than fifteen seconds, there was a cold one in my hand, and for a brief couple hours, I was able to forget about how everything had fallen apart with Allie.
22
Allie
Olivette was sitting on her knees. She was leaning forward to rest her elbows on the floor as she colored her section of the wall mural, and her tongue was pinched between her lips in concentration.
I’d been watching from a safe distance.
It was ridiculous, but I was afraid to approach her today. I had no clue if she knew Mav and I had been on a date, and I didn’t want to mess up the relationship I had with her. She was too precious of a child.
I hung back, flitted between the kids, and encouraged them all as a group to keep going.
The mural was turning out great. It was a wild mishmash of colors, just like the completed one from last year mounted on the wall already. Olivette’s section was various shades of pink and purple.
I wanted to crouch down beside her and tell her how nice her art looked. I wanted to chat with her like I always did.
But things felt weird now. Forced.
Candice would tell you you’re acting like a child if she saw you right now, I thought as I glanced at the clock. The bell would ring for lunch shortly.
“Okay, guys, let’s put our crayons down and grab our lunches from our bags. Chop chop!”
The kids abandoned their sections of the murals and made mad dashes to their backpacks. Olivette, however, continued coloring.
Of course.
Now I was going to have to go over there.
Frowning and willing myself to keep my cool and not be intimidated by a freaking four-year-old, I approached her and stopped with the toes of my shoes an inch from the edge of the paper. “Olivette. Did you hear? It’s time for lunch. We can come back to coloring after the break.”
Olivette looked up at me and smiled. “I’m almost done.”
I dropped to a crouch beside her. “It looks really good. I love the colors you picked. Very pretty. Very Olivette.”
Her smile grew. “Thank you. I like it too. I can’t wait to show Daddy. He likes purple, too. And he always wants to hang up my pictures. But this one is too big to hang up at home. But that’s okay. Because you get to keep it and hang it here. I like that.”
I took her chatter as a good sign that things between me and her had not changed because of my weak moment on Saturday night. “Finish up that spot. Then join the others to eat your lunch, okay?”
“Okay.”
I left Olivette to finish coloring and sat at my desk. The other kids were eating quietly, and after a couple of minutes, Mav’s daughter got up from the floor and fetched her lunch too.
When the lunch bell went off, they’d mostly cleaned up after themselves, and everyone had finished eating, so I sent them outside to play.
I was doing a quick walkthrough with my sanitary wipes when Ellen popped into my classroom to say hello. She was wearing a floor-length blue dress with brown buttons from top to bottom and a pair of very comfortable-looking brown sandals.
“Hey,” she said, leaning up against the wall by the cubbies.
“Hey, Ellen.”
“I thought I’d come see how you were surviving down here.”
I threw away the used sanitary wipes and sat down at my desk to unpack my lunch. “I’m doing well. My kids are really good. Too good, almost.”
Ellen pulled a chair over to my desk. “How is that possible? Brady’s in your class.”
“Brady gets a bad rap.”
“Yeah,” Ellen scoffed. “That’s because he’s a bad kid.”
I paused with an almond halfway to my mouth. “No, he’s not. Contrary to what most teachers seem to think in this school, Brady is a nice boy with a willingness to learn and cooperate. It’s his mother who’s the issue, and if I was
a betting woman, I’d say his father had a hand in it too, seeing as how he’s never around.”
“He’s a lawyer. He works a lot.”
“Fatherhood responsibilities come before client responsibilities.”
Ellen laughed. “Wow. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”
“No. What do you mean?”
“You’re just a much more opinionated version of yourself than I’m used to. It’s refreshing.” Ellen leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.
I studied her. Was she being serious? Maybe she was right. Maybe I was a little on edge with everything that had happened between Mav and me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get defensive. It just really rubs me the wrong way when teachers speak badly of students. They’re children. Their faults are our faults. It’s our job to help them overcome obstacles, not point them out and bitch about them in the staff room while drinking our morning coffees.”
Ellen frowned. “We don’t mean it. It’s a way to pass the time. You know, for teachers to feel united under one umbrella. To find solace in someone else’s similar struggles.”
“It’s irresponsible,” I said. “And it’s negative. This is a school. We should be spreading positivity to our kids and to each other.”
Ellen sighed and stood up. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Allie. Real positive.”
She moved to the door, and I stared down at my salad. “Ellen?”
She paused. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry. I just… I had a rough weekend. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
Ellen looked back at me over her shoulder. Her neutral expression softened with a smile, and she gave me a small nod. “It’s all right, Allie. It happens to the best of us. You know what helps?”
“What?” I asked, desperate for a way to get rid of the pit in my stomach.
“Run yourself a bath when you get home, pour a glass of wine, and listen to some music. Whatever music makes you feel good. Light some candles and pamper yourself. Whatever this weekend did to you, wash it away.”
I bit my bottom lip. “Thank you, Ellen.”
“Don’t mention it, kid.”
My day improved by a fraction after my talk with Ellen. She’d given me a bit of a reality check, and I forced myself to stop wallowing and to enjoy my time with the kids before the day came to a close. We worked on the mural a bit more, and when everyone started to tire of that, we took our seats and practiced our printing.
We worked in our notebooks until the end of the day. When the bell rang, the kids sprang out of their seats and rushed to collect their things. I helped those who were struggling to get their backpacks on and whose parents were usually running late.
All the while, my eyes kept darting toward the door. I was sure Mav was going to show up, and I’d be caught unprepared. I didn’t want to see him. And God forbid, he tried to talk to me. I wasn’t ready to try to explain myself to him, and this certainly wasn’t the place to do it.
I still needed to sort out my own thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t give him any answers right now.
When Olivette’s grandmother arrived, I was relieved. She came into the classroom, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder, and greeted Olivette with a hug and a smile.
I waved hello from where I was at my desk.
Then she started coming toward me.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Play it cool.
“Ms. Branson?” she asked. Her voice was firm and stronger than I’d expected from a woman of her age.
“Yes, Ms. Cantone, right?”
“That’s right.” She smiled. “I’m Olivette’s great grandmother. I’ve been meaning to properly introduce myself when I come to school. It shouldn’t have taken me so long.”
“That’s all right. We’re all busy people, aren’t we?”
She nodded. Her smile remained perfectly intact. She didn’t give me the impression of a pissed-off grandmother. In fact, she made me feel warm. At ease. Then she spoke. “I hear you and my grandson went on a date on Saturday night.”
“Oh,” I said, my eyes widening with surprise. I licked my lips. “Um. Yes. Sorry. This isn’t really the place to talk about it. I don’t want the kids or any faculty to overhear.”
“It’s just you and me here, Ms. Branson,” she said sweetly. “Rest assured, I know this conversation is not for my granddaughter’s ears. I just wanted to tell you how my Mav feels about you.”
“Right,” I said, nervously smoothing out my skirt.
“He likes you, Ms. Branson. A lot. He’s a safe bet, sweetheart. A good man. There is nothing to worry about where my grandson is concerned.”
“Please, Ms. Cantone, I know what you’re trying to do—”
“I have no ulterior motives,” she said clearly. “I am just saying the things he was unable to tell you himself. Don’t give up on him yet.”
“It was just one date.” I wished this conversation would end. I was out of my depth and floundering, and I suspected she knew it.
“Child,” she said, reaching out and taking my hand. I resisted the urge to pull away. “Mav hasn’t gone on a date in over four years. He hasn’t done a lot of things. And he genuinely enjoyed himself. Now, if you don’t like him, then that’s a different story. But if you do like him and part of you is wondering what might be, give him another shot. He won’t disappoint you.”
She let go of my hand and turned toward Olivette, beckoning her over and telling her it was time to go. Olivette waved goodbye and smiled, and I wiggled my fingers in a weak wave back.
If you do like him and part of you is wondering what might be, give him another shot.
I mulled her words over as I started my end of day classroom cleanup.
23
Mav
Trace looked at me like I was an alien.
“What?” I asked sharply.
I’d just finished filling him in on where things stood between me and Olivette’s teacher. I wasn’t happy about it either, but Trace looked downright horrified.
“You haven’t spoken to her since?”
“No. Every time I’m at the school, I feel like she’s deliberately ignoring me. Or avoiding me. I swear she intentionally tries to look busy as soon as she sees me walk in the door.”
“Dude, you need to just talk to her. You can’t let this shit sit too long. It’ll make it weird.”
“I know.”
“And you have to see her almost every day. Why the fuck haven’t you done something about it yet?”
“Because,” I said, rubbing my temples. “Because I never should have asked her out in the first place. I should have respected the line in the sand between parents and teachers and kept my distance.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“Good fucking question.”
Trace turned one of the chairs around in the station kitchen and sat down backward, draping his arms over the back. “No. Seriously, why did you ask her out?”
I shrugged. “Because I was into her.”
“It has to be more than that. A guy like you doesn’t ‘cross a line’ like that unless he wants something bad enough to do it. You’re more than into her, man.”
I sighed. “You’re right.”
“Course I am. So do something about it and stop moping about how unlucky in love you are.”
“How?”
“Talk to her,” Trace said.
“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“Fuck that. You’re both adults. You both made the decision to go to dinner. And now you’re both dealing with the fallout. Talk to her. Lay it all out on the table. Say you’re sorry if you’re compelled to apologize, but for fuck’s sake, buddy, you have to do something about this. Do you really think you can last the whole school year with just waving at her every damn day?”
He raised good points. I shook my head.
“Exactly. So put your fucking big boy pants on, grow some balls, and tell her you’d like to talk to her. Today.”
“Today isn’t good. I—”
“Today, man. The longer you wait, the weirder it gets.”
I dragged my hand down my face. I was leaving the station in less than fifteen minutes to pick up Olivette, which meant if I listened to Trace, I’d be confronting Allie to try to plan time for a conversation in about twenty.
That was a paralyzing thought.
But the longer I mulled it over, the more logical it became. There was no way I’d be able to keep doing this every day until the end of the year. And Allie shouldn’t have to either. There was no doubt in my mind it was equally uncomfortable for her, if not more.
“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll ask her if she can talk today.”
“Good man,” Trace said, pushing himself to his feet and thumping me hard on the back three times. “You won’t regret it. And if you do, remember you got yourself into this mess, not me.”
I laughed. “Hey. Aren’t I supposed to be the one telling you what to do now?”
Trace rolled his eyes. “Don’t get all power-hungry on me already, Lieutenant. That shit ain’t gonna fly. You know how I roll.”
Chuckling, I got to my feet to go get my things and get ready to head out to pick up my daughter. “Don’t forget to check the lines before you leave today.”
“Yeah, yeah, boss. I’m on it.”
I arrived at the school three minutes before the bell rang, which meant I was standing outside the classroom peering through the tiny glass window at Olivette, who was lacing up her sneakers and getting ready to come meet me in the hallway.
Allie was sitting at her desk, talking to one of the students. When the student walked over to the cubbies, Allie locked eyes with me. I smiled and waved. She waved back but broke eye contact quickly.
The bell rang.
Here goes nothing.
Olivette came rushing out into the hallway to give me a hug. I dropped down and hugged her back as other kids flooded the hall, and then I led her out of the way of the mob. “Can you wait here for a minute, kiddo? I have to ask Ms. Branson something.”
Ignite The Spark Between Us: Searing Saviors #4 Page 14