Page 28 of Heart of a Hero

“You know, I thought I had everything, but I don’t have those in gold. But not to worry. I have enough Lego points to choke a horse. They were part of a prize package a while back. I’ll go ahead and order the bricks so you have enough to build what you need. I can also check for jewels and transparent pieces that you can use. Go ahead and design what you want to do. The hole will need to be large enough to fit around his neck, and you should build it in two pieces that we can fit together on him. It won’t be attached, so it has to be strong enough to hold itself together once it’s draped.”

That was the coolest thing of all. It would act like actual jewelry and add authentic detail and feel. Forrest was really excited that Conrad was letting him make what would be a really important feature. But he noticed that Conrad seemed to be all about making sure everyone got a chance to do the fun things.

Forrest finished the loincloth and got it placed in the model. It fit perfectly, but he set the piece aside on another table. There was no use placing it now when they had so much work yet to do. So he got to work designing the torque. It needed to be gold. Not just yellow, but a deep shade of gold, so he tried to find it in the colors Conrad had and was able to locate a few pieces. “Obviously this isn’t a common color.”

“No, it’s not. But go ahead and use it anyway.” He pushed over his tablet. “This is the master list of colors and shapes. See what you think you’re going to need. That way I can order what I don’t have.”

Forrest got to work and found the pieces he thought he’d need. Then he roughly calculated the number he’d need to complete the torque. Conrad took back the tablet and did some work. “Okay. I ordered the base pieces and doubled the quantity because we’re going to want the same style for the rest of the body jewelry. I also ordered a number of jewels in many colors. It will take a little while for them to get here because some of the pieces will need to be shipped directly from Lego. I’m also sending a note to a contact there so he knows about the order and why we need it.”

“Cool.” Forrest checked the time and began cleaning up. “I think I need to be going. Lizzie will be back soon, and you have things you need to do.” He put the loose bricks away and helped Conrad clean up his work. Then they went upstairs, and Conrad wound his arms around his neck.

“Thank you for sticking with me.” Conrad kissed him.

“I like being stuck with you,” Forrest teased and kissed Conrad again, holding him tightly. Then he said good-bye and left, going right out to his car and heading down the street. He always hated leaving Conrad behind. It felt like he was skulking away, and it wasn’t right. But he needed to play it safe, and that meant taking things with Conrad slowly and being deliberate in what they did together and the places they were seen. Besides, they both owed it to Lizzie to allow her to have as normal a kindergarten experience as anyone else, and that did not include her daddy dating her teacher.

When he got home, Forrest sat down at this table and spent hours catching up on things for tomorrow morning. He had papers to look at and get ready to hand back. He also had lesson plans and learning aids to make. People thought that teaching kindergarten was all games and fun, but his goal was for his kids to learn the basics so they could thrive in first grade.

THE FOLLOWING afternoon, while the kids were outside with the other kindergarten teacher, Helen Wood, a visitor knocked on his door. “Can you come to my office a minute?” the principal asked. “It won’t take long.”

“Of course,” Forrest said and followed Harlon to the office, where a man in a suit practically charged them as soon as they walked in.

“I want to see my daughter, and you can’t stop me,’” he said. “I want to see Bethany.”

Forrest did his best not to register any recognition, but this must be Lester Drovers. “I’m sorry, but we have a note in our files that you are not to see her unless we contact her mother. We have left a message for her, but since she is the parent of record, we cannot allow you to see her.” The office manager was trying to explain it calmly. Forrest crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Lester without saying a word.

“Those are the rules we must follow for your daughter’s safety. I’m sure you understand that. What if a grandparent or uncle came in here and wanted to see her? We can’t allow any of it.” Harlon’s phone rang, and he answered it. Forrest continued watching Lester while Harlan spoke quietly to the other person on the line. “I’m sorry, but we can’t let you see Bethany. It appears that there is a restraining order.”

“That has lapsed, and there is no way I’m leaving without seeing my daughter.” Lester was becoming more and more agitated. “My witch of an ex-wife has made my life miserable for the last two years. She falsely claimed that I threatened her, and I never did. Then she lied and was able to get a restraining order. I haven’t seen my own child in all that time, and now that there is no order, she refuses to let me see her.”

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t something the school can get in the middle of. You need to work things out with your ex-wife or use the courts. I have to do what is safest for Bethany, and right now, it’s the orders that I have in my files.” Harlon shrugged as Lester turned to him. Forrest tried to look as intimidating as possible.

“I think the best thing for you to do is to call your lawyer and get this straightened out officially. Once you bring us some paperwork that details what the status truly is, then we can make changes for who is allowed to drop off and pick up your daughter.” Harlon was very patient, and Forrest could feel for Lester even if he had slimy used-car salesperson vibes. Finally, once he realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere, Lester left the building, and Forrest returned to his room just ahead of his students returning from recess.

Chapter 12

“TRICK OR Treat!” a little girl in a bumblebee costume said as she hurried toward the door, her pumpkin candy bucket bouncing as she went. Conrad put some candy inside, and she hurried back to her mom, turning to wave before she went on toward his mother’s house. He had already taken Lizzie out around the block, and she got a ton of candy that he had to put on top of the refrigerator so she wouldn’t eat it all. Thankfully, Mom gave out candy for both of them while they were away. Now Lizzie was inside playing in the living room behind him, and he kept an eye on her between kids coming to the door.

It was slowing down now, and he had time to get into his own costume. Once trick or treating was over, Mom was coming to stay so he could meet Forrest. They had been invited to a party by some of Forrest’s friends, and he was really looking forward to seeing him.

Finally the flow of kids trickled off, and Mom came in the side door near her yard. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, almost.” He sat at the table.

“What’s got you so nervous today?”

He sighed and poured a glass of wine, hoping it would calm his nerves. “I want his friends to like me.” He took a gulp, and his mom pulled the glass away like he was going to get drunk or something. “I had my interview for the director position today. I think it went well. Lester had his yesterday.”

“Did you explain to them what that idiot did?” she snapped, reaching for his glass and taking a swig herself. The logs from a few weeks earlier had shown a change made to the systems, and Conrad had traced it back to instructions Lester had given the clients when he’d had support duty. Conrad hadn’t determined if he had done it on purpose or was just stupid, but he had documented the issue and passed all the information to his temporary supervisor.

“It didn’t come up,” he said with a groan. “The man is a menace. And he has plenty of questionable things in his past, but I can’t use any of them. At least not outright. It’s frustrating as hell. Apparently Lester’s ex-wife, Caroline, had a restraining order against him that included his daughter. Forrest said it had lapsed, but a new one has been ordered.”

“Well, two things. First, don’t let it get to you. The people at the office want the best person for the job… and that’s you. Second, you’re going to out with Forrest, so put all that out of your mind and have fun tonight. You’re off for the weekend, and tomorrow Lizzie and I are going to the craft fair, and she asked if she could stay the night. I told her it was okay, so pack a bag for her in the morning and you and Forrest can have the whole day together.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Conrad said and got up. His mother grabbed the wine glass and finished it off as Lizzie came running into the room. She had her Barbie suitcase behind her. “I take it you want to go to Gramma’s tonight?”

She nodded. “Can I?”

“Of course you can,” his mom said. “Go upstairs and let your daddy check that you packed everything, and you and I will have a sleepover.” She winked at him. Conrad took her suitcase and brought it upstairs with Lizzie. When he opened it, he found her favorite stuffy and a doll, nothing else. Conrad finished packing for her and sent her downstairs with her suitcase.