Page 84 of Five Alarm Kiss

Jake followed suit, ready to get her out of there.

“Jake, I’ll be right back,” she told him. “I just need a minute.”

“Okay.” He didn’t miss the way her eyes were glistening. He hated how defeated she looked, and it pissed him off to noend that her parents were the cause. They, of all people, were supposed to support her. “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

Lip quivering, she nodded once before turning and leaving the room. Everything in him told him to follow and make sure she was all right, but there was something he needed to do first.

Laurel had to get out of there before she totally lost it and broke down in front of Jake. Maybe splashing some cold water on her face would help her calm down. Her parents were never going to approve of her teaching first grade. It was useless to keep thinking they’d change because they’d always look down on her choice. She’d never be good enough for them. That was a cold, hard fact, and she needed to accept it.

As soon as she’d left the sitting room and rounded the corner, she heard Jake addressing her parents.

“I hope you’re proud of yourselves,” he said sharply.

Laurel froze.

“You should be ashamed of the way you spoke to her.”

“I beg your pardon,” her mom huffed.

“You heard me.”

“Now, wait a?—”

Jake cut her dad off mid-sentence. “No, you wait.”

The harsh tone of his voice shocked Laurel. She leaned against the wall for support, afraid of how her parents were going to react. Surprisingly, they remained silent.

“Do you have any idea what an amazing woman your daughter is?” Jake asked. “She’s the sweetest, most dedicated woman I know, andyou don’t see it.” He let out an aggravated growl.“God, how can you not see it?”

“Don’t stand there and tell us we don’t love our daughter,” her father warned.

“I never said you don’t love her. I’m saying you don’tlistento her. Can you even tell me what she just said? Teaching grade school makes her happy.Happy!Why are you trying to make her miserable?”

“We are not trying to make Laurel miserable,” Patricia snapped. “We are trying to get her to live up to her potential. She’s capable of so much more.”

“Jesus!Do you even hear yourself? Sheiscapable! She’s so far beyond capable, it’s ridiculous. She’s amazing with those kids. They worship her. Have you ever even gone to her classroom? Seen what she does? Watched how she interacts with them?”

Neither of her parents said a word.

Laurel had invited them to come to her classroom. She’d asked so many times, she’d lost count, but they’d always had an excuse. They were too busy at the college, or planning an event, or… fill in the blank.

She’d finally stopped asking. She’d gotten tired of ripping the scab off. She just wanted to heal.

Jake let out a frustrated sigh. “You may not see how incredible your daughter is, but I do. And I’m gonna do my damnedest to show her that as often as I can because she deserves to know.”

Laurel hadn’t even realized she was crying until she noticed tears landing on her T-shirt. No one had ever stood up for her the way Jake just had.

She hurried to the bathroom before she broke down in the hall. Pulling a washcloth out of the cupboard next to the sink, she wet it and held the damp cloth against her cheeks. Staring at her reflection, she waited for her pulse to stop playing hopscotch.

“You may not see how incredible your daughter is, but I do.And I’m gonna do my damnedest to show her that as often as I can.”

Jake’s words kept running in a loop through her head.

“Teaching grade school makes her happy. Happy!”

He saw her.Reallysaw her.

Tears threatened again, so she bit her lip, the pain oddly calming. She took a few deep breaths and blew them out.

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