Page 44 of Secret Love

How am I supposed to hide my staggering crush on this man in front of his girls?

Fortunately, Earl chooses that time to make his presence known. He pops out of my hood and lets out a long, plaintive meow. The looks on their faces…priceless.

“THERE IS A KITTEN ON YOUR BACK!” Gracie yells.

“Oh, did I forget to mention I’d be bringing a guest?” I’m still laughing as they crowd around me, petting Earl.

“I knew, and he still managed to catch me off guard,” Henley says, chuckling. “Oh, he is…the perfect little sidepiece for you.”

“Dad!Gross!” Cassidy is mortified. “Sorry, Miss Seymour, my dad can’t possibly know what sidepiece means.”

“And you do?” Henley lifts his eyebrows and smirks.

I press my lips together as I try not to laugh. And fail.

“Remind me to cut off all reality TV for you,” Henley tells Cassidy.

“Dad,” she groans and looks at me apologetically.

Distraction always works in the classroom, so I try it now, taking Earl out of my hood. Another round of gasps and adoration makes me laugh.

“That kitten is the cutest thing ever,” Henley says. And under his breath, I think I hear him say, “I’m so screwed.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ROUND AND ROUND

HENLEY

Once Tru has eaten and Audrey and Gracie have gone into the living room to play with Earl, Tru looks at me and Cassidy.

“For this initial session, I’d like to have both of you here, if that's okay with you,” she says to Cassidy.

Cassidy nods. “Okay.”

“I'd like your dad to see what we’ll be working on, and that way, when I'm not around, he can help you with anything youmight have questions about, and you can also show your mom when you're with her.”

“That sounds good to me,” I add.

“Okay, great, let's get started.”

And for the next hour, I go through the full gamut of emotions as I watch Tru work with my daughter. It's alarming to see the things Cassidy is struggling with firsthand. Since she first started reading, I’ve heard her countless times, but it's been a while now. She's read stories she likes to the girls, but now I'm wondering if those were stories she mostly knew by heart. As Tru goes through exercises, it’s difficult to see how frustrating and painful this is for my little girl. She stumbles often to get the right word and is on the verge of tears. It’s hard not to get weighed down by that. But Tru is patient and thorough as she tells Cassidy fun ways to help her remember difficult words.

When Cassidy gets upset with herself, Tru reassures her that this will take time and that she's here for the long haul.

“We’re going to be working on this until you feel more comfortable reading,” Tru says emphatically.

Cassidy looks at her with something close to worship.

It's amazing to watch when Cassidy begins to grasp certain information with more understanding. It’s not a miraculous transformation in so little time, but it’s a step toward figuring out how to solve the problem when she can’t remember what a word is.

I couldn't be more grateful that Tru saw what Cassidy needed when she did, so we can know the steps to move forward now.

Of course, I beat myself up about it. I feel like the worst parent in the world. Because now that I'm seeing it, I don't know how I ever missed it…the way I tried to rationalize what I did see.

It’s devastating to realize that Cassidy has been doing this alone.

But even by the time the session is over, I can tell she's exhausted, but there's a spark of hope in her eyes that was missing before.

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