Page 17 of Stone Promises

She puts down her fork, looking guilty. “God, you’re right. I’m so sorry. I’m such a bitch. I promise to only be supportive from now on.”

“No more fangirl?” I ask with raised brows.

“No more fangirl.” She picks up her fork and starts eating again. “So, can I tell you about the hot single dad of my new student?” she asks around her mouthful of salad.

~ ~ ~

“How was it at Hope today?” Julian asks me at our late dinner.

“It was good I guess. But we had a thirteen-year-old go into labor tonight.” I shake my head still in disbelief. “Thirteen,” I repeat. “She’s only a few years older than my students and she’s having a baby. It’s so sad. Babies having babies.”

He leans over and puts his arms around me. He knows how much this stuff gets to me. “What’s going to happen to her?” he asks.

“Same as a lot of the others, I imagine. She wasn’t going to keep it, so she’ll probably end up going back to her family, into the same abusive situation she was exiled from four months ago when they found out she was pregnant. I just wish there was more I could do.”

“You’re doing everything you can, Mallory. You being there to support them, it’s helping them in ways you will probably never know.”

“Thanks,” I say. “I hope so.”

The waitress brings our food, putting the large pizza down on the table in front of us. It makes me wonder if Chad is eating pizza tonight as well. Pizza for one. Surely not. There are probably a hundred people he could eat with. Courtney Benson seems like she’d be first in line. I wanted to ask him about her last night. I should have when he questioned me about Julian. It would have been the perfect opportunity. But maybe I didn’t want to know if the rumors are true.

“Has he contacted you?” I ask Julian.

“And byhe, I assume you mean Chad?”

I nod.

“I was wondering when his name would come up. No, he hasn’t.” He studies me. “Wait, has he contactedyou?”

“Yeah. He came to the house last night,” I tell him, reaching for a slice of pizza.

He drops his jaw along with the food in his hand. “He came to your house?”

“I know. I had the same reaction. He was there when I came home from dinner. Just sitting at the table having a beer with my dad like they were old buddies.”

“He was drinking?” he asks, concern evident in his voice.

“That’s whatIsaid. Apparently, his issues were with cocaine, not alcohol. He told me he doesn’t drink that much.”

“Hmm,” he mumbles. “What did he want?”

“I’m still not sure. Forgiveness maybe?”

“You didn’t give it to him, did you?”

I shake my head. “No. But we did play basketball for an hour.”

“Basketball? What the hell, Mallory? The guy walks back into your life and you just forget about how much of a dick he is?”

I try not to get defensive. After all, Julian is kind of right. “I haven’t forgotten. But he did seem like he needed a friend. He said his life was crazy and he needed a little bit of normal.”

“What does that even mean?” he asks.

“He said when he saw me outside the club Saturday night, he saw me as normal or something so he looked me up.”

“You are anything but normal, Mallory,” he says, plucking a pepperoni off his pizza and popping it into his mouth.

“Yeah, well, I think he meant it as a compliment. He really hasn’t contacted you?”

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