Page 45 of Always Been Yours

“You owe the swear jar money now.”

Grady nods his head in defeat and amusement.

Her eyes and accusing finger swing in my direction. She has Selena’s disapproving glare which is a little scary but mostly funny on such a small human. “Are you going to be a bad influence on my dad?”

I look at Grady and back at Stella, shaking my head.

We were always bad influences on each other.It was mutual.

“Stella,” Grady says in a reprimanding fatherly tone I’ve never heard before. “Be nice.”

Stella rolls her eyes and I suddenly realize that there’ssomethinggoing on here. It’s not my place to ask… and if I’m in any way at the heart of it, I don’t think I want to know.

“Can we go home?” Stella asks. Daisy looks between them with a pout.

“I’m not done with my meeting. You can sit down if you don’t want to go to the playground.”

I stand up and go to the cabinet where I leave coloring supplies. Some of the kids from past years come to visit occasionally so I make sure to always have paper activities that are age appropriate. I place the stack on the table in front of the girls and give them a small smile.

“It’s good to see you both,” I say quietly.

Daisy gives me her signature smile and Stella just flips through the sheets.

When I take my seat next to Grady again, he nudges my leg to grab my attention. He gives me a look that saysI’m sorry about that.

I shake my head and give him a sympathetic smile.

Shaking it off, Grady surprises me with his next statement. “I have an idea about how to handle the coaches.” I lift my eyes in question. I’ll graciously take help this time. “The board made the right decision, and we know that. If they aren’t going to choose how they’ll participate then we’ll make the decisions for them. The final list is due next week.” He shrugs in a humble way.

Nodding, I tell him, “I like that idea.”

“And I think that the football team should host the dunk tank. And isn’t it so nice that Harper volunteered the three football coaches?”

I gasp in delight. “Ilovethat idea, Grady.”

“As the notorious vandal around here, I thought you might,” he remarks with the sexiest, most evil smirk I’ve ever seen on him.

Rolling my eyes, I scoff, “First of all, eggs and toilet paper hardly count as vandalizing.”

“The judge would probably disagree with you. And now I’m questioning if we should trust you with America’s future.”

I point a finger at him. “I teach outstanding little citizens, okay? And second, everyone knows Asher went with me. Why doesn’t he get any of the blame here?”

“Sure, he went with you but it’s funny how it was never any of his teachers.”

Giving him a quick shrug, I simply retort, “It would have been a full-time job if we egged a house every time he failed a test. Plus, most of my teachers had failed him at some point.” I chuckle.

He shakes his head at me with an amused grin. “Let me see the list of the other clubs, you little troll.”

Grady and I spend the next hour going over the details of the booths and planning when we can take a trip to city hall for the permit. I don’t know when we decided that we’d be doing that together, but it was a silent agreement that we would.

I guess we’re taking a field trip next week.

As he’s about to stand, he stops and turns toward me again. “How did that meeting with the advisor go? I’m sorry, I should’ve asked.”

I’m slightly taken back that he remembers but to be fair, Grady’s always given me his full attention when we talk. It doesn’t matter if we were whispering secrets or throwing barbs back and forth. He always made sure to hear each word.

“It went really well,” I smile. “I’m working on my essay and getting some letters of recommendation together now. I have a few months, so if I plan it right, there shouldn’t be any problems.” I nod, more to calm my own nerves.

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