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I reach over and place my hand on her knee. “Don’t think like that. I know you’ve been put through so much by your partners in the past, but Ryan’s different. He’s one of the good ones, so don’t rob yourself of that joy and happiness.”
She puts her hand over mine, smiling at me. “You know, I think you were my first ever soulmate.”
“I feel the same way. Sometimes I feel bad for the men in our lives.” We both laugh. “They know that if they mess up, it’s not just one of us they have to deal with.”
“You know when Ryan and I get married, you’re my maid of honor, right?”
“Duh.”
“Hey,” her tone gets serious, “will you be okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Helping me plan my wedding someday.”
“Of course.” I hate that she’s always so worried about me when she should be excited for her own future. I know watching your best friend lose their mother and the love of their life in the same year and go down a long path of grief that almost consumes them has to be traumatic. “I promise. I can’t wait to help you. I can’t wait to sit with your mom when you come out of the dressing room at the bridal shop when you’re trying on dresses. Mostly, I can’t wait to give Ryan my very threatening if you so much as cause her a single tear, I will hunt you down and kill you with my very specific set of skills speech.” I do my best Liam Neeson impression and it has her in a fit of giggles.
* * *
“Okay, class, and what do we say at the end of the day?” I ask as a sea of smiling children raise their hands and say with me, “We are grateful for the day!”
“And for you!” Daisy adds on with a big smile, several other students joining her.
“Thank you all so much. I am so grateful for each of you and I love being your teacher. Are you all going to have a great weekend?”
“Yes!” they cheer.
“Does anyone want to share their weekend plans?” Several hands shoot sky-high.
“Bryson.”
“Me and my dad and, and, and my brother are going to a, to a Cubs game.”
“That sounds amazing! Danielle.”
“My sissy has a softball game.”
“Well, I hope she wins.”
A soft charm sounds that signals the end of the day and the students head to their cubbies to retrieve their bags and sit back down at their desks. This school does things a little differently for the younger kids, allowing the parents to come directly to their classroom to pick them up.
One by one the mothers or nannies come in to pick up the children. I chat with a few of them, exchanging pleasantries and discussing how their child is doing.
“Knock, knock.” I turn to my right to see Preston, my fellow teacher, smiling and waving at me from the doorway.
“Hey, Pres, all your kids gone already?”
“Yeah, the fifth graders don’t waste any time hauling out of here, especially on a Friday.” He laughs.
“I bet. I remember those days.” I smile and wave at one of the mothers when a tall figure catches my eye. It’s Mr. Vaughn, walking into the classroom casually in his navy suit. His white Oxford is unbuttoned a little, no tie. He catches me looking at him and I quickly look back at Preston. “Sorry, can you repeat that?” I ask.
“I was just saying that it was fun chatting with you at the bake sale the other night. You were amazing, running around getting everything done.”
“Thanks, it was great talking with you too.” I try to keep my eyes on Preston but I can feel Weston staring at me. He’s saying something to Daisy as she riffles through her backpack.
“So do you have any weekend plans?” He rocks back and forth on his feet, his hands in his pockets.
“Not really, no. Oh, well, that’s not totally true.” I laugh. “I actually have this picture I’ve been meaning to hang in my bedroom. I keep putting it off because if it can’t be done with Command Strips, I don’t like messing with it. I even bought the tools and it’s still just sitting there.”
