Page 47 of The Fear
Well, okay…Apparently, he wasn’t that fond of Hudson. Kind of not surprising. Her brother did have such a way withpeople,after all. Gia was probably going to have to do a bit of retraining, honestly.
She would have said more, but then Grady was there. His hand spread over her back. She fought the urge to shiver. Or…snuggle closer. Her Gradar was going off again.
She looked up at Grady. “Do you need me?”
His eyes flared. Yes, he was thinking things he probably shouldn’t be thinking on the library lawn. She might just have to tell his mother on him. Then again…
Gayle would probably be thrilled…
Something about having Grady right there next to her helped. No doubt about that.
“You’re not Pastor Hiller, but…Grady, right?”
“Yes, I’m the other twin. Good to see you again, Brenton.” Grady held out his hand and shook Deputy Ryce’s, but he never let go of Hala. In fact, he pulled her a little closer, absently toying with her ponytail.
He liked to do that. She liked to let him.
She just…stayed right where she was. The world felt warmer when he was there. This whole exchange felt awkward. She’d known Wynnie’s parents were having problems co-parenting. She had intended to talk to Luis about her concerns. See what the school’s procedures were, just in case it was needed. She just hadn’t had time yet.
Wynnie had said a few things that were concerning. Especially about her mother’s new boyfriend. Hala just wasn’t certain whatsheshould do, other than relay those concerns to Luis. He would have to act on anything anyway—with her particular history with Jessica, Jessica could make accusations just to be petty and vicious. Hala wouldn’t put it past her, either.
She hadn’t had much interaction with parents of her students yet. Mostly what she had, had been positive. There had been a few very negative people—more than she had realized. She never would quite understand why some people viewed their children’s teachers as the enemy. Teachers battled every day to help their students. At least all the teachers she knew.
Teaching was absolutely wonderful, and she loved almost every moment of it—but parents…
Well, dealing with the parents scared her a little. Especially…the men.
She was going to have to find a way to get over that, somehow. She was going to give her students the best she possibly could.
Deputy Ryce was ushering his kids away as more people started to arrive. Hala shivered.
“Hey, you okay, honey? That guy say something to upset you? He was a jerk in high school.”
“No. Not really. Just…nothing, really. I am still a little nervous when dealing with my students’ parents, I think. Especially the fathers. I’ll probably never really be easy with…men.”
His arm snaked behind her back, and he turned her. Hala found herself right there, pressed against his chest again. “You’re already great at teaching. Everyone loves you. How can they not?”
The way the man was looking at her…hot enough to melt chocolate chips in January. “Oh? Didn’t you once say I was the most unlovable creature on the planet?”
“I may have. But you were ten, I had the right. You’d just bitten me, remember?”
“Of course I didn’t bite you.” He would have been nineteen or so, then. He’d still been almost gangly. He’d filled out in the years since. Into themanin front of her. “But if I did, you probably deserved it.”
“Want to see the scars?” He held his left hand up. And there were faint teeth marks right there. Maybe she had bitten him? It would have been something she’d have done back then, actually. Now that she thought about it. She’d been a little bit of a butthead, as a kid. She’d admit it.
They had so many memories together. She would never forget growing up out at the Hiller Ranch for so much of herchildhood. But they weren’t kids anymore. What was happening between them was changing things. And that meant…they could never really go back. “This changes forever for us, doesn’t it?”
Nothing was as simple and uncomplicated as it had been back then. It would never really be again. Hala wanted to rest her head on his chest and let him block the world out for a little while.
Grady nodded. But she saw the confusion in his eyes, too. “It does. But…I think we’ll figure it out. I’ll do my utter best never to hurt you, Hala Hanan. You have my word.”
So she let him hug her close for one moment, then stepped away. There were some of her students wandering around the cookies and brownies, after all. She had to behave now. And the kids were all looking at her and getting excited.
Hala would behave, no matter what. Until they were alone, anyway.
Then…maybe all bets were off.
This washerHiller man. And she was ready to claim him.
