Danny pulled away, but I needed him to hear this.
“Danny, Ms. Faith is a great friend, but she isn’t part of our family.” I searched his eyes. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” He leaned away. “I mean…maybe.”
Dang. I wanted to be all Danny needed, but I couldn’t fault him when even I felt something special with Faith. But I didn’t know who Faith was, not really. I asked around, and no one knew who she was before she came here. I knew she was from back east, but that was about it.
How could I navigate this without hurting Danny?
When we finally got sock two lined up acceptably, I grabbed his shoes where Mom had left them by the bedroom wall.
The best thing for Danny would be to not disrupt his life for an unknown relationship.
To be rejected again would be like starting over mentally for us both. That was too much pressure. It wasn’t worth it.
I tied his shoes in a double knot and grabbed his backpack.
“But we are still meeting with Ms. Faith for the business thing, right?” He grabbed his tablet and charger from the wall.
“Yeah. Let’s get you some breakfast.”
“I don’t want Grandma’s cereal. Her milk tastes funny.”
“Okay, how about we go get Sam’s maple bars and hot chocolate?”
That put an immediate skip in his step as he rushed out the door and down the hall. In the living room, the Christmas tree wasfull of lights and homemade ornaments. I told Mom I would go get her a tree, but she grabbed one from the Merc before I could, and I was okay with one less thing to do. It didn’t smell as good as the tree we got, but it was pretty and had a much better shape.
Maybe I shouldn’t have given the tree to Faith, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, she helped cut it down; she earned it.
Danny reached for the front door handle. I stopped him and bundled him in his orange sweater, coat, gloves, and hat. It was tricky, but we left the braced arm against his chest.
I opened the front door, and the cold air immediately made our breath a cloud of smoke around us. “When do we meet with Ms. Faith together again then?”
“Not sure, Champ.” I sighed and helped him up into the seat of the truck and I reminded myself that Faith was Danny’s teacher and nothing more.
I needed to stop thinking about Faith’s bright, kind eyes, her pink lips, and how I couldn’t breathe when she placed her hand on mine. In fact, I needed to stop thinking about her altogether.
Danny constantly bringing her up wasn’t helping.
Chapter Thirteen
FAITH
My second graders were dressed in Santa hats and flannel. The Christmas music program was starting in twenty minutes, and Danny was struggling.
“I forgot my Santa hat!” Danny wailed.
“Danny, that’s fine. I brought extra in case anyone needed one.” I grabbed one of my extras and set it on his desk.
“I don’t want that one, I want mine!” Tears streamed down his face as he picked up the hat and chucked it across the room.
“Danny. We don’t throw things in this classroom. That’s enough.” I took a deep breath.
He rushed under his desk and folded his arms, refusing to look at me or anyone else.
“Danny, everyone else is willing to compromise. Landon forgot his hat, and he is fine with using an extra.”
He spun away from me. “I don’t want Dad to be mad that I wasted his money.”
