Page 91

“Shush.” She moved out of his way. “You look…happy.”

“I’m always happy.”

“Not so much lately. Did we work things out with Wilda?”

“You can go do your principal stuff now.”

“It’s all yours.”

He sat down. “Thank you, Rachel.”

“You’re welcome. I expect some details at lunch.”

“Why are you so damn nosy?”

She patted his cheek. “Because I love you so much.”

“Right.”

Chapter twenty-four

“The dude was boring.”

Even with the late start, the day dragged. Seeing Wilda when she picked up Caleb was a nice reprieve, but he had a staff meeting, which would keep him at school for at least another hour.

He met her at the car after loading the kids onto the bus. “I’ll be here a while longer.”

“Classroom work?”

“Staff meeting. Boring. So boring.”

“Would you like me to take Frenchie home?”

He handed her the dog’s leash. “That would be great.”

“We’ll see you in a little bit.”

He leaned over and waved at Caleb through the window. “See you soon.” He waited until they drove away, then headed back to the classroom to get his things. After getting the classroom ready for tomorrow, he stopped by the teacher’s lounge for a cup of coffee, then walked to the cafeteria. When he got there, almost everyone was there, and he took a seat in the back.

Rachel talked for ten minutes, then introduced the guest speaker, who rambled about classroom efficiency and improving test scores. Beyond that, Milo couldn’t say what the man talked about because he dozed off thirty minutes in.

A nudge woke him, and Rex, the eighth-grade math teacher, was grinning at him. “He’s wrapping it up.”

Milo sat up straighter. “What did I miss?”

“Not much.” Rex watched Rachel thank the speaker. “You’re friends with her, right?”

“Who?”

“Rachel.”

“Yeah.”

“Is she dating anyone?”

“Um…I believe so.”

“Damn. Do you think you could find out for me?”