Page 19 of Mr. Principal

“Bye, Mommy. Have a good night. Bye, Principal K.”

“Principal K?” Tom asked.

“Carter’s the new principal at Meredith’s school. They sent out a notice.”

“Hmm...” was all Tom said before turning away from us. “Let’s go, hon,” he said, and I didn’t know which lady he was talking to, but Becca waved good-bye to us happily and took Meredith by the hand.

They skipped away together, laughing as if they were best of friends.

“They’re like sisters,” Carter said, reading my mind.

“Yeah.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” he said with uncertainty in his voice.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. This whole co-parenting thing is new to me.”

“Considering that you divorced recently, you’re doing a pretty good job.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Well, you’re not shouting at each other in public or repeatedly taking each other to court, so yeah.”

I winced. “Sorry. I guess you experienced a lot of that.”

He shook his head. “Luckily, they stopped being bitter and angry long enough to realize they were doing more harm than good.”

“How are your parents, by the way?”

“Great. They’re happy I’m home. Now they get to guilt me into celebrating every major holiday with them.”

I laughed. “You’re lucky they love you.”

He shrugged. “I’m glad to have them. It’s great being home. I’ve missed them. I’ve missed Piper, and of course I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

We stared at each other and I couldn’t help but recall a night around eight years ago that I knew at that very moment he was also thinking about. It was a night that neither of us had apparently forgotten or talked about.

“I’m going to head in and tell Piper that I’m leaving.” My voice sounded breathless, but I couldn’t help it. Emotions I’d buried a long time ago were starting to surface and I needed space to process them.

It seemed he did too. He moved out of my way and said, “Yeah. I think I’ll head home now. Tell Piper I’ll catch up with her later.”

“Will do,” I said as he turned and walked away without another word.

I stood there and just watched him walk away. Watching Carter walk away was something that I was accustomed to doing.

I shook my head. Who would have thought that such a fun night would bring up ghosts from our past?

With that thought, I opened the door and walked back into Piper’s house, determined to not think about the night years ago when I almost lost one of my best friends.