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“Yeah. Rough sums it up.” I cleared my throat and gave a quick rundown of the morning. “I know I need to talk to Tristan about getting the media off my case, but do you have any suggestions of what to do about the money requests? I’d like to give them something more than, ‘I’ll get back to you.’”
Eric was quiet a moment. “I don’t think we want to rush into anything. Work fast, definitely, but not rush. If you see the difference?”
I sighed. I did. I didn’t like it—everything in me wanted this to just all be over—but I understood that came from fear and stress more than anything. “Yeah. I do.”
“Good. So what I suggest is this: let me set up an application and get it online. Then, you have something to refer people to and it gives them something tangible and productive to do while we sort out the rest of it. In fact, it’d be good if you could work an announcement of the application process into whatever media Tristan is up to.”
“That would be amazing.” The turmoil churning in my gut eased. It wasn’t what I’d call peace—not quite yet—but it was definitely working toward it. “I’ll have Tristan get in touch with you directly?”
“I’ll give him a call. He and I have worked together enough with other things that it shouldn’t be an issue. That lets you get back to work where you can hopefully focus on the important stuff.”
I laughed. “That would be nice. I’m not sure how likely it is.”
“Chin up. We’re praying for you.”
I blew out a breath. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“It’s our pleasure. You tell Kayla hi from us, okay? And make sure we’re invited to the wedding.”
My mouth went dry. I wanted to marry Kayla, no question, but hearing it so matter of fact took me by surprise. “Sure. Will do.”
Eric chuckled. “I’ll text you a link when we’re set. Bye.”
The call ended. I frowned at my phone a moment before shooting a quick text to Tristan just letting him know that Eric would be getting in touch and the two of them were authorized to collaborate. I didn’t care about the formalities of it, but Tristan often did. Probably had to do with the whole being a lawyer thing. Either way, a text should soothe him until I signed whatever he was going to end up needing me to sign.
I strode to the windows and looked out. From the second story of the school, the parking lot looked peaceful. But if I angled myself enough, I could see the news vans clumped near the front of the building.
Why wouldn’t they just go away?
I shook my head. Lunch with Kayla was exactly what I needed now. I grabbed my insulated bag and started down the hall toward her office, trying to hurry past any of the classrooms with open doors.
Kids still turned to look. They nudged one another and whispered when they saw me. I earned more than one annoyed glare from someone lecturing as I passed.
This really needed to blow over. Fast.
Kayla had her office door shut. There were no kids in the lab, at least, which made it a little better. I knocked on her office door and waited for her to call out.
“Enter.”
I poked my head in. “Hi. I needed to call Scott’s dad. Sorry I’m late.”
“You’re fine. Come in and close that behind you.” She gestured to the door and then took another bite of her sandwich.
I did as she instructed and studied her as I sat. “You’ve had a rough morning, too.”
“I don’t really want to talk about it.”
I winced. “Does it help at all if I say I’m sorry?”
She shrugged and continued to eat.
I frowned and unzipped my lunch bag. Was she angry at me? I didn’t do this. I mean, okay, I guess I did, since I was the one with all the money, but it wasn’t like I’d gone out of my way to get attention and disrupt her life.
I looked down into the bag at my food, then flipped the lid closed and zipped it back up. “I’m suddenly not very hungry.”
Kayla set her sandwich down and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just never expected this would be so…”
I waited, but she didn’t finish the sentence. I wasn’t sure, actually, what word went there. There were a ton of options. Leaving it blank worked, too. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”
