Harvey laughed, holding up his hands, palms out. “Hey, don’t kill the messenger. Criminy, you should see your face! Don’t worry; you’re not in any trouble. I mean, I don’tthinkyou are.”
I gritted my teeth and hoped he’d just get on with it.
Fortunately, he did. “Evanne’s father wants to set up a meeting with you Friday after school to go over some things.”
It took a second, but then what he said sank in completely. “Evanne’sfather?”
Harvey raised an eyebrow. “That a problem?”
I shook my head, confused. “No. It’s just…I thought Evanne’s records showed her mom as having primary custody.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Harvey said, snapping his fingers. “I had Alice check for me before I came here. Primary custody was transferred from Evanne’s mom to her dad. Apparently, it was some last-minute thing, and because it’s the beginning of the year, things got backed-up. Anyway. Four o’clock Friday here work for you?”
I frowned. I’d had no idea any of this was going on with Evanne, and I should have. That sort of thing could seriously fuck with a kid’s head. She certainly seemed as cheerful as ever, but maybe she was just good at hiding how she was really feeling. I’d known a lot of kids who could pretend to be fine and then…not be.
Harvey cleared his throat.
Right. Answering his question.
“Yes, that’s fine,” I said, opening up my planner and scribbling it in. “I’ll meet Mr. McCrae here Friday afternoon at four.”
I was actually feeling better now that I knew it was Evanne’s father who wanted a meeting. Since he now had primary custody and hadn’t been able to make it to the open house, he probably just wanted to meet me. I assumed that’s what an involved parent would do.
“That’s great, Lumen, just terrific,” Harvey went on. “And be sure to make himhappy, all right?”
Something about his tone made me look up. “What does that mean?”
He chuckled. “Come on. You’re a smart girl. Mr.McCrae?” I stared blankly. “Guy’s one of the elites, Lumen.”
“Ms. Browne,” I corrected.
He ignored me. “The McCrae clan is one of the top-dog families in Seattle. You had to know this.”
“I didn’t,” I said tightly.
He grinned and winked at me. “Well, now you do. You don’t have to give him a BJ or anything, but–”
My eyebrows shot up. “Excuseme?”
“–just make sure he knows you’re treating his baby girl with utmost care, yeah?”
“Mr. Harvey–”
He kept going as if I hadn’t said a word. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important McCrae is for the prosperity of Kurt Wright. He’s our second-biggest investor.”
He cleared his throat. “Donor, I mean. Right behind the dad who practically runs the NRA. These are guys we want to treat right.”
“’Treat right.’” I echoed, unable to believe what I was hearing. I had to be misunderstanding. “What does that–”
“You’ll do great, kid. McCrae’ll take one look at you, and he’ll be putty in your hands.” He grinned.
This was pointless. Harvey was a misogynistic lecher who’d never understand why this conversation shouldn’t have even happened. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I know you will. I’m sure you’re great at taking care of people.”
I ground my teeth but said nothing else. I turned back to my planner and hoped he’d take the hint. He chuckled and waved with his fingers before strutting out of the room, clearly pleased with himself.
When I was alone again, I let out a breath and closed my eyes. My head was throbbing, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was not a headache I’d wanted to have, especially not this early in the school year.
