“Yeah, I had the same reaction. Apparently, the school is trying to force them to be friends.”
“How so?”
“They were paired together on a writing assignment about social media.”
That’s really not the smartest idea. Chastity likes working with a partner as much as I like the idea of seeing Keith’s face. She always ends up doing the entire thing on her own, getting the other person an A, and complaining about incompetence in the education system.
While I normally find her frustration funny, I have a feeling this time it won’t be entertaining.
“I’ll call her teacher,” I say, already planning how to get her out of this.
“Why?”
“Because they hate each other.” Is he seriously not thinking this could be bad?
Derek clears his throat. “Do you remember how we became friends?”
He can’t possibly think this is the same. First, it’s girls. Girls are…mean. Derek and I didn’t hate each other and plot an untimely demise of the other. These two hate each other. The last few weeks it hasn’t gotten better. Everly has almost doubled her efforts, and Chastity has been on a rampage about ways to make her sick without it showing on a toxicology report.
“You can’t force this. The school shouldn’t either.”
“I know it’s not ideal but Everly will be supervised.”
My first instinct is to bite back at him that they’re supervised at school, and yet that hasn’t stopped his daughter’s behavior. “I’m not comfortable with this, Derek.”
“I understand that you’re not, but this could be a good thing.”
“What about this is good?”
He sighs. “I don’t know, but I think we need to let them work this out. If we intervene it’ll be worse for Chastity. It’ll look like her mother had to stop her from having to be around a bully. Trust me, I spent a good part of my life dealing with the end she’s on.”
He’s right. If I call the school and get her paired with someone else, Chastity will suffer. This parenting thing is really freaking hard. I owe my mother a cake too.
Well, maybe one with some laxatives.
“Fine. But you should know, Chastity shares everything with me and if I find out that while under your supervision she was tortured, I assure you that I will retaliate.”
It’s an idle threat, but still.
“Against a thirteen-year-old?”
“No, against her father, who won’t have to worry about another seven-year drought because he’ll be missing a certain appendage.”
Derek chuckles. “Noted. See you soon, Tea.”
Great. “See you soon.”
There are a few errands I need to do before I get Chastity. We need supplies for our girls’ night in. Plus, now that I know she’s being forced to work with Everly, I’m going to need to sweeten her up because I can’t even imagine the mood she’ll be in.
I grab my purse and head to the grocery store, where Mrs. McCutchrey is changing the decorations on her storefront. She does this each month and it’s the big excitement on the off months in this beach town. Who knows what theme she might pick?
It sounds pathetic even in my head.
“Hi, Mrs. McCutchrey,” I say with a smile.
She’s the nicest woman in this town. While others have gossiped about my life choices, she’s never said anything. In fact, when Chastity was born, she made her a blanket and brought me a meal each Friday for the first six months.
She will always hold a very special place in my heart. Plus, Chastity loves her and she makes the best macaroni and cheese in town.
“Oh, Teagan, hi, honey.”
“How is the decorating going?”
She grins. “Just fine. I’m going for a Parisian theme this time. I’m hoping Ed finally takes the hint and whisks me away.”
Their marriage is one that everyone envies. He dotes on her and she takes exceptional care of him. Each day around eleven, she leaves the store to cook him a hot lunch. If he’s working late, she brings dinner and joins him until he’s finished. I asked her once why they do that, and she explained that there’s nothing more important than sharing meals together, which is why she brought me one each week.
Of all the people in the world who should’ve had kids, it’s them, but they never did. However, I don’t think they were lacking in love. They’ve sort of adopted the misfit kids in this town and made them theirs.
“I’m sure he knows. You talk about it each year.”
She nods. “And yet, the man doesn’t listen.”
“Do any of them?”
“Not one. How is Chastity? I haven’t seen her in a few weeks.”
That’s strange. She always comes and visits with Mrs. McCutchrey. “She’s okay, it might be because she’s been working with Dr. Hartz.”
Her eyes brighten. “Yes, I heard that. Such a shame that the older Dr. Hartz hasn’t been feeling well.”
“It’s a good thing he has his son.” I smile.
She watches me with a knowing eye and then turns back to stringing the lights. “You and Derek were always such a joy to watch. Have you two reconnected?”
While she doesn’t gossip, she does meddle. I told her when I was really sad and sleep deprived after Chastity was born about my fight with Derek. She held me, let me cry myself to sleep, and then stayed all night taking care of Chastity.
The next day, she touched my cheek, kissed my nose, and told me love worked in mysterious ways and some people get lost on the journey.
I still don’t know if she was talking about me or him.
“We have.”
“Oh? That’s wonderful. I hadn’t heard…”
I tilt my head to the side and grin. “That’s interesting, since you usually know before the people involved figure it out.”
She laughs and waves her hand at me. “Now, that’s just silly. How did it go? Are you friends again?”
I don’t really know where we stand since the night at the bar. I haven’t seen him.
Before the kiss, though, it was great. I smiled—truly smiled. I wanted things to stay that easy between us, but hurt isn’t something that I can just release because he offers me pretty words.
“We’re…working it out.”
She climbs down. “Maybe it shouldn’t be work?”
“Isn’t it you who told me every relationship that matters takes effort?”
Mrs. McCutchrey laughs once and nods. “I’m sure I said something like that, but we were discussing your mother at the time, dear.”
“Now, that is work.”
“Yes, but she loves you, just as I suspect the young Dr. Hartz does. You know”—she heads to the register—“I like to think I have a sixth sense about men.”
I love her but she’s nuts right now. “You do?”
“I do. I think you’ll be surprised.”
That’s already happened, but I can’t tell her that. I need to figure out how to deal with seeing him first.
“I’ll let you get back to your display. That’s a surprise I’m looking forward to.”
“All right, honey. I’ll be sure to stop by the store this week and we can catch up.”