Page 27 of The Grump I Loathe
I’d hated being talkedaboutinstead of talkedto. Alannah knew exactly why she was here; I didn’t need to make up excuses for her. “Alannah can explain what she’s going through,” I said simply. “If she wants.”
Alannah grabbed my hand, tears in her eyes, clamming up. I couldn’t blame her. I swallowed down the tightness in my chest.
With a resigned sigh, Miss Marilyn turned to her computer, printing out two documents. “This is the notice of suspension. The apology statement both girls wrote is attached. They’ve promised this won’t happen again, and we’re going to hold them to that.”
I glanced at the papers she handed me. The apology statement consisted of two handwritten paragraphs explaining what happened and that they were sorry. Both girls had signed their names at the bottom.
“You can take them home now.”
We all got to our feet.
“Just remember,” Ms. Marilyn called after us. “This schoolalwayshas a waiting list.”
Threat much? Alannah and I headed for the parking lot. The moment we’d cleared the office, I pulled her close. “Gosh, she gives me the willies.”
Alannah sniffed.
I kissed the top of her head. “We’ve got some things to talk about, but it’ll be okay.”
Alannah shook her head. “Mom and Dad are gonna freak. They’re gonna say I’m not allowed to go to the gym if I’m suspended.” Her sniffles turned to panicked sobs. “I’m not gonna have enough time to practice my routine before the tournament!”
“Hey, Lana, deep breath. I’ll help explain things to Dad and Valentina.”
Her little chin wobbled. “I need to move countries.”
The melodrama made me want to laugh, but I could tell she was serious, so I swallowed it down. “Running doesn’t help, kid. And besides, if you do that, you still won’t get to practice your routine. You’ve worked so hard—you deserve to see that hard work pay off.” I led her outside. We’d almost made it down the steps when I heard my name.
Dammit. I winced, then turned around, spying Connor and Grace coming down the steps after us. I’d been hoping to avoid this awkward confrontation in front of two already upset kids.
“A word,” Connor said, his face a steely mask.
I resisted the urge to salute.Sure thing, bossman.What a nightmare this was about to be. “I’ll be right there.”
I handed Alannah the car keys. “Why don’t you go sit in the car for a minute? I think Cassie left some snacks in the glove box.”
She nodded, slumping down the rest of the steps, so small and dejected my heart lurched painfully. This kid needed to catch a break. And if there were breaks going around, I wouldn’t mind one myself—but I knew better than to expect one from my boss.
I walked over to Connor’s swanky SUV, sucked in a breath, and immediately launched into an explanation. “I realize I ditched work, but technically I left over my lunch break. And I know I’m going to be a little late getting back, but the girls are about Juni’s age, right? So, maybe we can call this game research and?—”
Connor held his hand up, silencing me. “Is Alannah yours?”
“What?” I frowned at his question. “You mean, my daughter? God, no! She’s my little sister.”
“But you’re the one here picking her up?”
“Yeah, well…” I swept my bangs back with my hands. I didn’t know where to start with that. “Families, right?”
Connor’s jaw ticked, and I braced myself to be told off. Instead, he said, “I’ll talk to Darius about adding parental accommodations to your file. That way you’ll have permission to leave during the day if Alannah needs you.”
I blinked at him like I was buffering. There must have been an input error somewhere, because what he’d just said did not compute. “No Lord LockMill lecture? No CEO-style meltdown?”
Connor rolled his eyes. “Is that what you want?”
“I mean, no. I just…I’m a little shocked, that’s all.”
“You’re not the only one who had to rush off in the middle of the day.” His eyes drifted to the window where Grace sat, arms crossed, doing a pretty good impression of his grump-face.
“Right.” We werebothhere. Maybe he…got it? Like,actuallygot what it was to have a kid you’d drop everything for? I wasn’t all that surprised he cared about his kid—I’d seen that much watching the two of them together at the convention. But that he’d turn around and show understanding to someone else in the same boat was, frankly, the last thing I’d have expected.
