Page 93 of Hate You, Maybe
“I’m two!” Rowan crows.
Thank you, niece. For taking the focus off of me.
“If you’ve really got a handle on it,” Landry says, “then why did you go all soft and gooey just now, talking about Sayla?”
Great. Guess I’m not out of the hot seat yet.
“Landry’s right,” Kendal pipes up. “You should see your face.”
I blow out a breath, aiming for amused, but landing somewhere east of awkward. “For the record, I’m not soft.”
“Maybe.” Kendal smiles at me primly. “But youarethe gooiest.”
“Totally,” Landry quips. “Goo central.”
“Wow.” I tug at my collar. “Remind me why I agreed to come to dinner tonight?”
“Becauseyoucouldn’t come on Monday,” Jojo points out.
“And your father was in the ER Sunday,” my mother adds.
“You overreacted,” he grumbles, and she reaches for his hand. The adults fall quiet for a moment, probably all thinking the same thing: That there’s no right amount of reaction when it comes to the ones we love. And we got lucky this time with Dad.
We haven’t always been so lucky.
“PIE!” Rowan suddenly hollers, breaking the silence.
“Rowie, hush,” Kendal begs.
“On that note,” I rise from my chair, “I’ll clear the plates and get dessert.”
“We put it in the garage fridge,” Landry says. “Pecan praline ice cream and apple pie.”
“PIE!” Rowan shouts again at the top of her lungs.
“Talk about a manipulative woman,” Brock chuckles.
“My daughter sure told you,” Tim quips.
“As she should.” I wink at my niece. “What the lady wants, the lady gets.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sayla
Fun fact: Switching director roles requires both Dex and me to work twice as much as usual. This is because we’re not only handling the new roles, we’re also walking each other through everything we know about our real ones.
On behalf of performing arts, we spend my extra prep period each day ticking tasks off on my ever-present checklists. Except these areDexter’schecklists now. He’s the new captain of the clipboard.
With my help, he does things like draft an email to the parents of students in the fall play, asking for volunteers to assist with costumes and makeup. He also sends updated meeting times and locations to the booster club to accommodate his schedule. He even contacts copyright holders to confirm permission for songs the choir will perform at their next concert.
For the record, what Dex lacks in know-how, he more than makes up for with charm and enthusiasm. I can onlyhope, when it’s time for me to take over again, everyone won’t be too disappointed.
Including me.
Because working closely with Dex turns out to be way more enjoyable than I expected. I’m not sporty—at all—and I’m only about half as charming as he is. Still, taking on Dexter’s role, even temporarily, teaches me a lot about what he does. And about what I’m capable of doing myself.
During his extra prep periods, he walks me through contacting uniform suppliers to order replacement jerseys, scheduling maintenance on all our playing fields, and asking students to turn in proof of recent physicals, or permission slips for away games, or grade checks for eligibility.
