“Hey there,” a woman behind the desk greets, setting her coffee cup down. Her lips are dark red with a slight smudge on the corner.
“Hi,” I reply, holding up the sandwich bag. “I’m here to visit Grace Mitchell.”
I’m not sure if I should’ve said her full name or Miss Mitchell. Mitchell is a common name, and this isn’t a student I’m talking to.
She grins, tapping her finger toward a clipboard on the desk. “Sign in here, please. I need your driver’s license. We’ll get you a name tag, sweetie.” She picks up the phone. “Hey, Miss Mitchell. You have a guest here to see you.” She wiggles her fingers in giddiness, and I automatically like her.
Setting the bag and drinks down, I jerk my wallet from my pants and hand her my license.
I grab the pencil to sign my name when I hear a harsh voice say, “Miss Mitchell, huh?”
I scribble my name down before looking up to find a man walking in my direction. His gaze is stony as he stands next to the secretary.
He scowls at me. “Are you her brother? Relative?”
I chuckle, offering an amused smile. There’s nothing better than ruining a guy’s attempt at being an asshole by not taking the bait. “Nah, definitely not her brother.”
His back straightens. “What are you to her then?”
“Finn!” Georgia says, exiting a room and heading in our direction. She motions to the bag. “I hope you brought me something too.”
Georgia is the school counselor at Sunset Hill.
“Shit, sorry,” I reply, feeling like an asshole for forgetting her.
“Rude.” Her voice is playful. “Next time, I’ll be sure to text my order.”
I salute her. “I got you.”
The man clears his voice. “You never answered the question as to who you are.”
Georgia moves in closer. The playfulness in her tone changes to disgust. “That’s none of your business.”
The secretary gapes at them.
“I’m the principal,” the man grinds out. “Everything that happens here is my business.”
Before anyone can throw out a response to this asshole, the door opens, and Grace walks in, looking her gorgeous self.
Grace is beautiful.
Period.
No exceptions.
She’s gorgeous when she’s dressed in her sexy-as-fuck teacher clothes.
When she’s wearing loose clothes, overalls, or those long dresses she likes to wear.
When she’s sporting sweats with a runny red nose, and I bring her chicken soup when she’s sick.
She grins brightly. “Hey, Finn.”
“A new friend?”
Her shoulders tighten, and her gaze swings to the man.
“An old friend,” Georgia corrects snidely. “More than that actually.”
Grace gestures to the guy. “Finn, this is Principal Long.”
I lift my chin, and it kills me to say, “Nice to meet you, man.”
I’m not sure how much power this dude has, but I plan on lunch visits with Grace to become a regular thing. I can’t have him giving us a hard time.
“Pleasure.” The snarl on his face confirms it’s not.
I clench my jaw.
Grace is running her fingers through her hair.
Georgia is practically snarling at the man.
“We’re having lunch,” Grace tells Georgia, breaking the awkward tension. “Want to join us?”
She shakes her head. “Archer and I are having a Zoom lunch.” She winks. “It appears we both have lunch dates.”
“This isn’t a place for dates,” Principal Long scolds.
“Is that your boyfriend, Miss Mitchell?”
I spin on my heels to find a little girl sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. Her bright pink bookbag is settled on her lap, and she’s sending a gap-toothed smile at Grace.
Everyone looks at Grace for an answer.
Chapter Sixteen
Grace
“Is that your boyfriend?”
Lizzy, the questioner, is the pigtailed girl in the corner, waiting on a parent to pick her up. She was my student last year and a nosy one. With Gavin’s hostile questioning, I’m not sure if anyone noticed her.
Everyone is staring at me in expectation. All of them wanting me to share my personal life as if it were a job requirement. Georgia and Finn already know the situation. Rachelle, the secretary, who appeared lost during Gavin’s questioning, shifts excitedly in her chair, awaiting her chance to share today’s gossip in the teachers’ lounge later. Gavin’s grinding his teeth, and from the spiteful expression on his face, I’m positive he’ll bug me about this later.
Deciding to ignore the question, I settle my attention on Finn. “We can eat in my room.”
I’m done pleasing people with information.
Gavin is my superior, but I don’t owe him any details of my personal life. He lost that privilege when I found out he was a married prick. Finn and I do need to chat about how we’ll define our relationship to others.
I didn’t expect Finn to bring me lunch, and I was giddy when I read his text.
Gavin clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “We don’t recommend guests for lunch. Next time, I suggest you make dinner plans.”
Unsure of what to say, I pay a quick glance to Finn. He folds his arms across his chest, and his hands are clenched.
“Says the guy whose family visits him on the regular,” Georgia fires back.
Gavin’s eyes are cold when he shoots me a quick stare before he turns, walks into his office, and slams the door shut.
Rachelle stares at us, speechless.
Gavin needs to stop behaving like a child if he doesn’t want the entire school to know he knocked me up.
Georgia winks at me.
The day after everone finding out about my pregnancy, I broke down and told her about Gavin. There was no way she’d allow me to keep it from her. We’ve been best friends for over a decade, and we have always confided in each other. Now, anytime she’s around Gavin, she gives him shit.
“Let’s go,” I tell Finn.
Finn shoots Georgia and Rachelle a wave and follows me into the hallway. We pass banner- and poster-covered walls while heading toward my classroom. When we pass a line of fourth graders, they snicker and point to Finn.
“What’s the principal’s issue?” Finn asks when we walk inside the classroom. “Does he like you, or is he just a dick in general?”
“Just a dick in general,” I reply.
He rubs at his lip as if questioning whether he should call me out on my bullshit. Finn is a pro at reading me. Eventually, I’ll have to tell Finn the truth, but today, I want to have lunch with him and forget about Gavin.
“This is cute,” he says, taking in my classroom. “It screams Grace.”
Finn helped me move all my supplies in, but he hasn’t seen it since I started for the year. A large bulletin board is decorated with positivity quotes and art displays, and I have posters covering the walls.
I’ve wanted to be a teacher since grade school. Some kids might have grown out of that phase but not me. My parents weren’t excited at first, being their occupations pay more than a teacher’s salary. There also isn’t room for advancement unless I obtain a higher degree and become a professor.