Page 45 of Everything I Promise

“Absolutely, why don’t you tell me what is going on?” She folds her hands on top of her desk.

I reach over and grab Lacey’s hand beside the chair. She looks like she is ready to have this over. I know she doesn’t like airing her business more than needs to be in this small town. Hopefully this won’t hit the gossip mill and they will be professional.

“Well, as you know, my husband and I are getting a divorce. Before we moved here he signed over his parental rights to Oliver. I have the paperwork here for you. Unfortunately, lately he has decided this is not real and that I am keeping Oliver from him. He has been making threats that if I don’t let Oliver see him then he will be coming to find us or take Oliver from school. I just want to make sure you are aware of the situation in case he does actually come here. I have a photo of him to show your staff, and I want to ensure that we have a very small pick up list, and that even if it is one of us that you are still checking identification,” Lacey says calmly, although I know she is anything but calm having this conversation. I can feel the slight tremble of her hand in mine.

“Oh, Ms. Harper. I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. I can understand why you’re worried. I pulled up Oliver’s file here and it looks like we have you, and your mom, Lorelei Harper. Is that all you’d like to have on the pick up list?” she asks.

“I’d like to add Colton West, and I’m so sorry I didn’t introduce you. I was too nervous.” She laughs nervously and looks at me for the first time since the principal walked in.

“Hi, I’m Colton West. My brother is Dr. Preston West. I’m sure you know him.” I reach out to shake her hand.

“Oh, of course! I know Dr. West. It’s nice to have you here in our small town now, too. I’ll go ahead and add you to the pick up list as well if you wouldn’t mind me grabbing a copy of your license.”

I hand her my license and she heads back out to the office to talk with the secretary.

“How you doing, sweetheart? Still nervous?” I ask Lace.

“Yes and no. I feel better now that the school is aware of it. I’m still nervous about the fact he might actually show up and my lawyer doesn’t seem to care at all. I wish we could get a restraining order. Not that I believe a piece of paper would stop him, but I think he would follow it. He has too much to lose at work to get in trouble with the law.”

I pull her in for a hug and feel her release a breath and relax into my chest.

“Brad is actually coming into the salon later today so I think I might talk to him about what we can do.” She says into the side of my bicep as I hug her tight.

That will be good. I’m glad she is actually going to talk to Brad. I wanted to before and it took all my willpower to not go behind her back and reach out to him. I knew if I did I would lose her trust.

After a few minutes the principal is back and we go to show the photo of Michael to the secretary and Oliver’s teacher. Now everyone involved knows what Michael looks like so they can be on the lookout for him.

I hate that I’m so helpless here. I wish I could do more to help them. She says that just being here for her is helping but I feel like I need to do so much more. The need to protect them is so strong.

I unlock the salon door and let Lacey inside, holding the door for her. It shuts behind me when she turns and faces me, a serious look on her face. I can see the anxiety settling in.

“Colton, I hate to ask, but I would really feel a lot less anxious if you would work in my office today. I know you have a lot to do, and if you don’t want to, that’s totally fine. But just having you nearby would help today,” she asks quietly as she stares up at me. The look on her face nearly breaks my heart. I hate that she feels helpless as well.

I pull her close and cup her face in my hands. “I will be happy to work from your office, sweetheart. I will do whatever it is that you need. Plus, I can be there to talk to Brad with you when he comes in.”

Watching Lacey at work is like watching a ballerina in a dance. She moves seamlessly around the salon between clients, doing different services, and she is so beautiful to watch.

Brad is the next customer coming in and I can’t wait to see what he says about Michael. I think he will help Lacey feel more settled outside of the school, too.

When he does come in, he’s with Lauren.

“Lauren! What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were on the schedule today,” Lacey says as she walks over and hugs her friend.

“I’m not. I ran into Brad at the diner getting coffee and he said he was on the way here. I don’t have a showing until later, so I thought I’d come by and say hi!”

“I’ll take the surprise!” Lacey exclaims.

Brad walks over to me and shakes my hand. “So, you cutting hair too now, man?” he asks.

Laughing, I answer, “Nope. Just hanging out in the office. Lace and I actually need to talk to you about some police business if you don’t mind.”

Lacey walks over to us and looks down at the floor. I’m glad Lauren is here too. This will force her to tell Lauren. The more people who know, the better.

“Oh, ok. What can I do for you?”

Lacey leads him over to a chair and Lauren and I follow. Lacey tells the whole story as she cuts Brad’s hair and Lauren isn’t hiding her worry.

“Unfortunately your lawyer is correct. There isn’t much we can do from a legal standpoint. He hasn’t technically committed a crime. We can have someone talk to him about harassing you, but it may make things worse, and there isn’t anything we can do about that legally. But I can understand the worry. I’ll ask some of the guys to do some extra patrols around the school and your home and salon. We’re lucky we live in a small town so we have a little more room to do more than a bigger city. Do you have a photo I can show them, so they know who they’re looking for?” He asks at the end of her story.

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