Page 21 of Finding Hope

If I die today, at least the last thing I see will be Aiden Kincaid’s silver-gray eyes, and his stunning blonde wife with the icy-blue gaze.

I mean, shit! If Imustdie, this is an aesthetically pleasing way to go.

“Thanks for your time,” the sexy beast – aka Aiden – rumbles. Pulling out a chair for his wife,all chivalrous and shit, he sends me into a silent swooning frenzy.

They just don’t make guys like that anymore. I mean, my brothers are like that. Their friends are like that. But since I’m not marrying any of them, and Aiden’s already hitched, there just aren’t any more chivalrous fish in my sea.

Instead, I get guys who fuck me against doors and never ask for my name.

Tina Kincaid, Evie’s mom and twin lookalike, places her handbag on the floor and takes Aiden’s beefy – and bruised-knuckled – hand in her lap. “What’s going on?” She looks between her husband’s eyes to mine. “Are we here because Evie was extraordinarily good… or bad?”

Goodbye, cruel world. Peace out. It was fun while it lasted.

“Evie’s a really good student, Mrs. Kincaid. She listens. She’s polite.” And because she’s not in the room with us right now, “She’s witty as hell. She has me laughing behind my paperwork more often than not.”

Aiden’s hard eyes turn soft. “She’s seriously sassy.”

“She can be,” I admit with a laugh. “But that’s not always a bad thing. She’s very smart–”

“But?” Tina interrupts.

Sighing, I mentally catalogue the Pokémon cards Idoactually own. “Butshe got in a fight. She, ah…”Damn, how do I explain this? I don’t actually think the girl was in the wrong. But it would be especially detrimental to my career if I admitted as much…

“What was it about?” Aiden asks angrily. “Who was involved?”

“Ah, her cousin, Lucy, was shoved by a sixth-grade boy. He’s big for his age. Quite a bit bigger than Lucy and Evie, but he shoved her against the lockers…”

“That little fu–”

Tina brings her hand down on her husband’s broad thigh in warning. “Please continue.”

“Well, I just so happened to walk into the hall when…”

“When?”

“Well…” I brace myself for the explosion of snowflake denials. “…Evie kicked him in the head.”

No anger. No explosions. But Aiden’s plump lips twitch with suppressed humor. Picking up a stack of paperwork the way I have to do a million times a day when Evie’s being inappropriate – and funny – I shuffle them and bring them up to hide my smile.

I’m not allowed to laugh.

And I’m definitely not allowed to cheer her on when she gives sixth-grader Toby a piece of his own medicine.

“Is she being suspended?” Tina asks seriously.

“Um, no. I stepped in before anyone got hurt.”Toohurt. “I separated them, sent them both to detention. The boy’s parents have already come in for their meeting; no one will be suspended… this time.” I stop and consider my words.Please don’t get me fired.Please don’t get me fired.“It’s unbelievably unprofessional for me to say this, Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid, but he had it coming. He was relentless, this wasn’t the first time he’s been picking on those girls, and since Evie stepped in, I get the feeling he won’t bother Lucy again.But,”I add when Tina’s frame relaxes, “if hedoes, and if Evie retaliates, they’ll both be suspended. My bullied middle-school-self might think he got what he deserved, and revenge served up by a girl is that much sweeter, but my degree and the promise I made to this school says she can’t do it again.”

“We understand,” Tina answers. “Thank you for looking out for our girls.”

My heart beats anew at the lack of shouted‘how dare you?!’and‘let me talk to your superior!’

A lot of parents take issue with being called into school. They cop an attitude when I suggest their cherub isn’t quite as angelic as they think he is. Most argue that their snowflake didnotretaliate, or that the other child provoked it. My personal favorite is: at myyoung age, I couldn’t possibly understand the intricacies of gifted children and their need to let off a little steam.

Toby’s parents said every single one of those things… and I took perverse pleasure in seeing the boy twitch when Evie walked by his locker this afternoon.

“Anyway.” Standing in my sensible heels, I gesture toward the door. “You’re free to go. I’ll be speaking with theotherMr. and Mrs. Kincaid, too. Lucy’s mom and dad. But don’t worry. Everything’s fine. You keep teaching your daughters to stand up for themselves, and I’ll do my bit and try to stop the bullying in between marking papers.”

Smiling his God-gifted panty-dropper smile, Aiden’s eyes meet mine, but –unfortunately for me– his hand remains wrapped around his wife’s.

---