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“Okay. I’ll see you on Monday. Unless…”
“No, unless.”
“Fine.” She left the kitchen, and Milo drank some more coffee. After Rachel left, he went to the parlor.
Wilda stopped mid-stroke and smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Are you okay?”
He leaned against the doorframe. “Rachel spent the night on my couch. We didn’t. We’re not… She’s terrified of spiders, and she called me at midnight last night.”
“You went to kill a spider for her at midnight, in a rainstorm?”
“We’re friends.”
“That’s a pretty good friend.”
“We’ve been friends since third grade.”
“Oh.” Wilda set down her brush and turned to him. “That makes sense, I guess.”
“But to be totally transparent, we did date for about a year. It was a couple of years ago, and it was a big mistake.”
“You went back to being friends?”
“Yeah, somehow. We got Frenchie during that period, so we share custody, for lack of a better word.”
Wilda smiled. “Okay.”
“You think I’m crazy.”
“No, I don’t. I think you’re the kind of guy who would leave his house in the middle of the night to go kill a spider for a friend.”
“Yep. That would be me.”
Chapter eight
“Why am I even friends with you?”
When Milo got up on Monday morning, he tried to ignore the scratch in his throat and the hint of a headache. Three of his students were out sick at the end of last week, but Milo had a pretty good track record with classroom bugs. Most of the time, he didn’t get bitten.
He wasn’t hungry, but he forced himself to eat some breakfast, then filled his travel mug with coffee and left for school. When the kids were settled in, he took roll. The three kids who were out sick last week were back, but two others were gone. With the runny noses he saw and the coughs he heard, it was clear the sickness would run its course through the whole class.
He raised his hand, and the kids quieted down. “I want everyone to be excellent today at washing hands and not touching each other’s things. If you need to cough, cough into a tissue or your elbow.”
The kids gave an unenthusiastic response. “Yes, Mr. Milo.”
“Okay, let’s get to work.”
He kept them busy until recess, and once out on the playground, with the exception of Caleb, they seemed pretty energetic. Caleb stayed next to Milo and Frenchie on the edge of the playground. Even Emma couldn’t get him to join her.
When Caleb took Milo’s hand, he looked up and whispered, “Mama.” Milo knelt next to him.
“Do you need your mom?” Caleb nodded, and Milo touched his warm cheek. Milo picked up Frenchie and held Caleb’s hand, then walked over to Evelyn. “Can you watch the crew for a few minutes? I need to take Caleb to the office. He’s not feeling well.”
“Of course.”
