Page 68 of The Amendment

“I just wanted to check in and see how everything’s going at school. Is Bailey staying away from Coach?”

I hadn’t mentioned it once since she’d told me that day at the lake, and she seemed grateful not to have to discuss it, so I worried about her reaction. But to my relief, she said, “Oh. Actually, Coach left.”

“Left?” I raised my brows, feigning surprise.

“He, like, moved or something. A few girls from the team said Ashley and Eleanor have been coaching for, like, a month now. They said he’d be coming back, but he hasn’t.” She shrugged one shoulder.

“And Bailey hasn’t heard from him? You’re not going to get into trouble. I promised you I wouldn’t say anything, and I haven’t.”

“No, Mom, I swear. She hasn’t heard from him. I would tell you.”

“Okay,” I said hesitantly. “You know I just want to protect you both.”

She nodded, jutting a thumb over her shoulder. “Can I go now?”

“Yep, go have fun.”

She turned to walk away, but stopped. “Hey, Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for…you know, being cool about everything.”

I clutched my chest in mock surprise. “Can I get you to repeat that so I can record it?”

She groaned playfully. “Well, don’t ruin it now.”

I giggled. “You know you can tell me anything, kiddo. I mean that.”

“I know.”

Heavy footsteps sounded down the hall, interrupting our moment, and I stepped forward to see Peter coming up the stairs. He headed for the bedroom just as Maisy darted off, disappearing into her own room.

I followed Peter, opening the bedroom door slowly.

He froze, but looked relieved when he saw me. “Hey, beautiful.” He’d been in good spirits lately, though the initial thrills from both Jim and Chris had worn off entirely too fast.

“How was work?”

“Busy. Exhausting.” He flopped onto the bed as if to prove a point. “How was your day?”

“My day was busy, too. Tara’s having a baby.”

“Is she? Nice.” He folded his hands across his forehead, closing his eyes.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking…” I trailed a hand across his chest.

“Yeah?” One eye popped open.

“What do you say we pick someone new?”

“Someone new?” Now both eyes were open.

“Yeah, you know… Besides the therapist. Just someone random. Like you used to.”

He sat up, his body tense. “I don’t know, Ains.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

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