Page 6 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

But then, her attitude didn’t bother me as much as seeing that vibrator roll out of her bag.

What kind of teacher carries a vibrator? Why would she need to keep something like that with her? How often was this woman getting off in public?

I ran my hand across the back of my neck as she turned the corner, and my palm came away wet with sweat. She was gone, just like that.

An older lady slowed down, clearing her throat as she passed by, and I got the hint. I was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, watching Mia walk away.

It was time to get back to work.

After twenty minutes of hiking in that summer heat, my office felt arctic. As I walked inside, Kira looked up at me from the reception desk.

“Hey, Dad. Did you get it?”

I handed the brown paper bag to her and stood under the air conditioning vent as she unwrapped it.

“Misplaced. I think I’ve seen this before.”

“It’s meant to be some kind of viral book.”

“Really?”

“That’s what the manager said.”

Kira’s brow furrowed. “I’ll be studying a book written this century for once. That’s kind of cool.”

She turned it over and read the blurb as I looked around. Sandy-brown floorboards, cream-colored walls, healthy plants in every corner. My chiropractic practice was exactly as I’d left it: clean, minimal, and spacious.

On Monday, I’d be able to open these doors. Patients would walk in sore and leave feeling better than they had in years. Coming from a small town like we did, it had taken some time to get used to living in a city as big as this one. But it was finally ready. I was ready. It would be good to settle into a routine again.

Kira’s sad sigh pulled me back to the gleaming white desk.

“It’s about a girl who loses her mom. Dad, I don’t think I can read this.”

Tears pricked her eyes, and instinct took over as I pulled the book from her fingers.

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do. This program was the reason Mom wanted to move here in the first place.” She groaned and put her head in her hands. “I haven’t even started yet, and I’m already fucking things up.”

“Kira,” I snapped.

“Sorry,” she sniffed, lifting her head. “But I can’t read that.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “You won’t have to. I’ll talk to your teacher about it on Monday.”

She wiped her eyes on her wrist. “But I don’t want them to know about Mom.”

I looked over the book in my hands. “Because you think they’ll treat you differently?”

She sniffed again and nodded. I smoothed my hand across her hair.

“I’ll take care of it. And I won’t say a word about Mom.”

She pushed her head into my palm. She’d been doing that since she was three, and it pulled at my chest the same way it always did.

Chapter 3

Mia