Page 86 of My First Kiss

“It’ll make her sad,” Ella says. “She’ll feel bad. I don’t want her to feel bad.”

Ella’s right, I know. Telling Harlow what that kid said to Ella and how she handled it will only make her feel guilty. She’ll worry that it’s her fault Ella got into trouble, and she’ll blame herself for the teasing Ella had to endure. But I hate the idea of keeping this from her. She’ll wonder why Ella is in trouble and why she’s missing school. I don’t want to lie to her either.

“I’ve got to tell her something, El,” I say. “It’s not okay to lie to her. Even if the truth might hurt her feelings.”

Ella seems to deflate a little, but at least she’s not crying anymore. She knows I’m right.

Chapter 29

Harlow

Today was a weird one. It started out normal enough. I kissed Linc goodbye and left before Ella woke up to get ready for school. It’s not as if she doesn’t know we’re dating. She does. We talked to her about the situation weeks ago, and she was happy about it. But she doesn’t know I’m sleeping over most nights. Linc wanted to tell her before, but I wanted to hold off a little longer. I’m not certain why. I just didn’t want her to feel like we’re making too many changes to her life at one time. I wanted her to grow accustomed to having me around more. I wanted to make sure she was truly okay with me being her dad’s girlfriend. That’s all.

Baby steps.

At least that’s what I tell myself. Not that Ella seems bothered by my presence in her house in the least. In fact, she seems to love having me there as much as I love being there. I smile as I drive to work, thinking about how much that little girl has wiggled her way into my heart in such a short time. She’s so smart and funny and kind. I love helping her with her hair and her homework, even though I’m better at the first one than the latter. I love hearing her giggles when Cole says something ridiculous to make her laugh. I know I should be worried about how much I’ve come to care for Ella and Cole, to say nothing of what I feel for Linc. But I can’t manage to feel anything but happiness when I think of the last month. Things have been damned near perfect. Which scares me more than anything else could.

I keep waiting for something bad to happen to end things. I keep waiting for Linc to realize he can do better and that he needs someone more like him as a partner. Not that he’s given me any indication he feels that way. In fact, he’s the one who wants the whole world to know we’re a couple, while I’m more reserved. It’s not that I don’t want everyone to know. I’m not trying to hide us. I guess I just have this insane notion that the more people know about us, the more it will hurt when it ends. Which is stupid, but I can’t seem to stop the negative thoughts from intruding.

Soon, I tell myself. Soon, I'll get to a point where I'm not always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Not waiting for everything to fall apart. Just because it always has before doesn't mean it will this time. Right?

My day at work moves with agonizing slowness due to the mostly empty morning schedule. By the time Miss Dottie shows up for her usual cut and color, I’m beyond ready to get to work. Spending too much time alone with my thoughts isn’t doing me any favors. As usual, Miss Dottie talks all through her hair color session.

She talks about the weather. “It’s going to be a hot summer this year.” As if it’s not hot every summer in south Georgia. She talks about the changes I’ve made in the shop. “I didn’t want to mention it, dear, but those old sinks were terribly uncomfortable. These new ones are much better.”

I smile and nod as I work, the conversation not requiring much input from me. That is, until she says something I don’t expect.

“Oh, I do hope Ella is alright after what happened yesterday,” she says. “You tell Lincoln that no one thinks she was in the wrong. Especially after what that boy said.”

She shivers dramatically. “I don’t know how he was raised, but that sort of language deserved a punishment. Maybe not quite a punch to the nose.” She laughs. “Though, time was, I’d have done the same to a boy who talked that way to me. I know it’s hard to believe, but I used to be quite the hellion when I was younger.”

I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I give her a confused smile. Clearly something happened to Ella yesterday. She punched a kid in the nose? For saying something mean to her. That doesn’t sound like the Ella I know. She’s never been violent. Ever. She sometimes gets frustrated. Sometimes she grumbles under her breath when she’s frustrated. I’ve seen her stomp off to her room once when Linc told her it was time for bed and she claimed she wasn’t tired. But she’s never done anything like hitting someone.

Ella got into trouble at school yesterday and I’m hearing about it from Miss Dottie. Granted, I’m not Ella’s mother. I don’t have any right to get upset. Right? Except I thought Linc and I were getting serious. I spend nearly every evening with him and Ella. I’ve grown close to her over these past few weeks. Why wouldn’t he tell me about this last night when I was at his house with them?

I think back over the night before as I work on Miss Dottie’s hair and she goes on about the hellion days of her youth. Linc and Ella were already home by the time I made it to their house. Ella seemed unusually quiet, but I attributed it to her being tired after a long day of school. She’d even gone to bed early. But I hadn’t really thought anything of it. Linc hadn’t acted out of the ordinary. Surely if Ella had punched a kid at school yesterday, he would have been upset or at least mentioned it to me. Maybe Dottie is mistaken? That seems unlikely. The woman is old, but her gossip is always spot-on. Maybe Linc just didn’t want to worry me? It’s ridiculous of me to feel hurt by this. Right?

By the time Miss Dottie leaves the salon—in better condition than she’d arrived in, this time—I’ve created a dozen different scenarios in my head for why Linc didn’t tell me about Ella fighting at school. I know the smart thing to do would be to just ask him. Call him, tell him what Miss Dottie said and just ask him what happened. Then ask him why he didn’t want to tell me. But that might seem like I’m trying to interfere with his parenting of his daughter. That’s the last thing I want to do. Linc has done an amazing job raising Ella for all these years without my input. I’m sure he doesn’t want or need it now.

So, like the coward I am, I opt to call Piper instead. If the gossip about Ella has made it to Miss Dottie, chances are she’s heard about it by now. Thankfully, it’s mid-afternoon so the rush should have died down at Piping Hot by now. She picks up after two rings.

“Hey, Harlow. What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing. Just finished up with Miss Dottie’s hair.”

“Oh, no,” she says, laughing. “I’m sure there’s loads of hot gossip, right?”

I bite my thumbnail, trying to decide how to ask my friend if she heard anything about my boyfriend’s daughter without sounding like I don’t know what’s going on with my boyfriend. Then I roll my eyes at my own ridiculousness. This is Piper. If there’s anyone I can count on to be honest with me and not pass judgement, it’s her.

“Have you heard anything about Ella punching some kid in the nose at school yesterday?” I ask.

There’s a moment of silence before Piper speaks.

“Yeah, I wondered if it had made it to Miss Dottie yet,” she says. “24 hours must be some kind of a record.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Miss Dottie. That woman must have spies. I don’t think she leaves her house except to go to your salon and my shop. I wonder who’s feeding her intel.”

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