Thoughts of his tender kisses on the forehead.
Gentle touches in bed on her cheek or arm when he didn’t know she was awake.
There were many layers to Clay that she wasn’t supposed to see but did.
“No. I’m not sure what else there is. More than him feeling as if he has to protect me. More than sex. How much, that is a good question.”
The bell rang, the kids were gathering outside. They’d be back in her room in a minute.
“Back to the grind,” Cassidy said.
“Yep.” She stood up to gather her kids from the aides that were walking them down the hall.
When her classroom turned the corner, the line looked a little light.
“You’re missing three kids,” Wendy said. “Ethan, Macy, and Sophie were running in circles and all ran into each other and fell down. They are in with the nurse.”
“Oh,” she said. “Anyone really hurt?”
“I don’t think so,” Wendy said. “But Macy was crying pretty hard and grabbing her butt. Maybe she sat on a rock. Sophie scratched her palm, and Ethan said he was hurt, but there was nothing I could see.”
“The nurse will let me know,” she said.
She gathered her kids that returned to the room and started on her lessons.
A few minutes later, Ethan returned with Sophie.
“Macy isn’t coming back,” Sophie said. “They are calling her parents.”
“Oh no,” she said. “Is she okay?”
“She hurt her butt,” Sophie said. “She won’t stop crying either.”
Her shoulders dropped. She had a soft spot for the little girl and hated that she didn’t know what was going on.
She’d find out in a few hours but had to put her attention on the rest of her students.
At the end of the day, she walked her kids down to the front, got those on the bus that were scheduled for it and the rest waited for their rides.
When the last child was on their way, she walked to the nurse’s office to see if she could get an update on Macy. She was shocked to see the little girl lying on the bed off to the side as if she was sleeping.
“I was just coming to get you,” Nadine said. Nadine had been the nurse here for years. She was great with the kids.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Nadine nodded her head to go into the office and shut the door. There was a big window where they could see Macy lying down.
“Macy has some bruising on her backside.”
“I heard she fell today on the playground.”
“This bruising is older. Like a strap or belt across her butt.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Seriously? She didn’t seem like she was having issues sitting today.”
At least she didn’t think so and hoped that she hadn’t missed it.
“It’s higher up. Closer to her back. So she could sit fine, but maybe not lean back,” Nadine said.
