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16
“Oh!” Her mother Lana jumped to see Sofia standing in the hall on Monday morning, work bag in her hand, ready to go. “Sorry. I forgot you were here. I’m still not used to having you in the house.”
Sofia attempted a smile. “I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I get the all-clear on my house.”
Lana frowned. “That’s not what I meant. It’s nice having you to stay.”
As long as it’s not forever.But for now, Sofia felt the same way too. She loved her mother and respected her for how hard she’d worked to support the two of them after Sofia’s dad had left, but the experience had hardened Lana in a way that strained their mother/daughter relationship. It had been years since they had lived under the same roof, and Lana had gotten even more picky in her ways over the years, and especially since being partly retired.
“Thanks.” Sofia attempted a smile, but her mother frowned.
“I just don’t understand, is all. I said for you to come stay here when you had that awful fire and you told me you were staying with a friend. Fine, I thought. Only now you say it was with a man friend, and suddenly you can’t stay there anymore?”
Sofia really, really didn’t want to get into this, but she thought she ought to at least prepare Lana for, well, being a grandmother. Just…maybe not right at this moment, when she was already walking out the door.
“I know things are a bit chaotic at the moment, Mom, but they’ll settle down soon,” Sofia promised. Lana hated the unexpected and anything resembling a mess.
“Hmm.” Her mother straightened Sofia’s collar. “I’m not naïve, you know. I recognize a breakup when I see one. I just didn’t know you had a man friend, let alone one serious enough for you to go stay with, when I’ve never even met him.”
“I’ll explain properly soon, Mom,” Sofia promised. The beep of a car horn outside sounded like the sweetest music to her ears. “There’s my ride. I have to go.” She bent to kiss her mother’s cheek.
“And that’s another thing I don’t understand—you have a car, yet you need a ride?” Lana muttered as Sofia shot through the front door.
Lana would never raise her voice when there was a chance a neighbor might hear, so Sofia felt she could pretend not to have heard as she hurried out to Eric before he could get out of his car. The last thing she wanted was for Lana to meet him and ask if he was her daughter’s “man friend.”
Sofia settled into the passenger seat with a sigh of relief. “Thanks for this.” She waved a hand. “Even if I don’t need a babysitter,” she muttered.
Eric grinned and pulled out into traffic. “I caught that.”
Sofia blushed. She’d half-meant him to, but even so. “It’s just that Ian may have been around, but he didn’t follow me every second, you know?”
Eric slanted a look at her in the rearview mirror. “Well, let’s say my service package is a little more robust than his. But seriously, Sofia, I’m a good bodyguard, and that’s what Ian asked for.”
She risked a look over at him, wondering if he’d take this opportunity to ask about her and Ian, but the journey was mostly silent, and the only questions Eric asked were about her preferences at the drive-through coffee stop.
Eric left his SUV in the visitors’ parking and made it clear he was planning to come inside to stick to Sofia, despite her protests.
“Unapproved visitors can’t just waltz in,” she tried to explain, wondering how this would play out.
“Public schools aren’t open to the public,” echoed the security guard stationed just inside the main door. He looked a little intimidated by the brawny redhead, though.
“What if I’m a visitor for the day, with a visitor sticker badge?” Eric asked.
The guard called through to Ms. Miller, the feared school administrator, who regarded Eric over the tops of her glasses, lips pursed and an eyebrow raised.
“Visitors have to be registered with advance notice, so they can be…cleared,” she said. “And they have to have a legitimate, educational purpose for their visits—not to ‘hang out’ with a teacher.”
She turned her beady-eyed glare onto Sofia and held it for what felt like an eternity before turning on her sensible heels back to her office.
“Someone’s getting detention,” muttered Eric, in a singsong voice. They were standing to one side of the thin trickle of faculty and staff coming in through the main door, and he bent low to murmur to Sofia. “It’s not a problem. I can just sneak in when you go through.”
“What? No!” Sofia was aghast. “That’s a terrible idea—completely against the rules and maybe even illegal! Look, there’s a coffee shop across the street. You can hang out there while I’m at school, if you’re going to insist on staying.”
“Oh, I am,” he told her, and tipping her a two-fingered salute, left.
For heaven’s sake!Sofia made her way to the staff room, her body following its usual Monday-morning routine even though her mind was buzzing. She took her mug from her locker and headed for the coffeepot. She poured some and actually had her cup to her lips before remembering caffeine was a no-no.
“Damn!” she muttered, loud enough for those sitting nearby to look up, then strode to the sink to tip the untouched drink away, miserable and frustrated.
