“Let’s talk after you’re done with work today.”
He said it quietly enough that Evanne didn’t stop chatting, and he watched the road the whole time, but it was clear he was talking to me. I smiled at him and nodded politely, whether he saw me or not. Inside, my stomach was churning. I had a feeling I knew what he wanted to talk about. Despite our nights together and our dinners, Alec didn’t want a relationship.
Then again, I didn’t either.
I had a plan for my life. I’d known that was the only way I’d get out of the system. Come up with a plan and execute it. Career first, then think about dating. And even then, dating a student’s father wasnotin the cards. I needed to get back on track. I promised myself my relationship with Alec would be professional from here on out.
We arrived at the school early enough that the parking lot was almost empty. No one was outside, which meant no one would see me getting out of this easily identifiable car.
“Oh, honey,” Alec said before I could thank him for the ride. For a second, I thought he was talking to me, but he turned and looked at Evanne. “We forgot your binder, didn’t we?”
Evanne blinked in confusion, whether at the endearment or his statement, I didn’t know. “It was in my backpack.” She opened her bag, but the binder wasn’t there.
“We will need to go back and pick it up,” Alec said. “We can let Ms. Browne off now, though.”
I hadn’t thought about giving Evanne an excuse for not joining me in my classroom early. The teachers who had kids brought them in early. There was no reason for her to think it wouldn’t be the same for her. I was glad Alec had thought of something, even if he’d had to take her binder out of her backpack to do it.
“I’ll see you in class, Evanne,” I said, waving. “Thanks for the ride, Mr. McCrae.”
He opened his mouth right away, like he was going to ask me to call him Alec, but he hesitated before speaking. “You’re welcome, Ms. Browne.”
I got out of the car, feeling a little sick. I didn’t know why.
The feeling only got worse the closer I got to the school. I heard Alec turning around and driving away behind me, but I didn’t look back. I had my old clothes in a plain canvas bag I’d borrowed from him, and everything else in my regular school bag. The clothes I’d found fit well enough to be taken as mine, so from the outside, I didn’t look any different than normal. As long as I could keep a good poker face, I’d be fine.
That didn’t help me shake the bad feeling in my stomach.
Which had a lot to do with the reason I’d gone home with Alec in the first place.
Harvey.
I’d nearly forgotten about him during the trip here. But now, I couldn’t do anythingbutthink about him. A part of me wanted to walk away, but the stronger part knew I had to face him. I still had lesson plan work to do that I didn’t get to yesterday, and a lot of my work was still on my desk, but it was more than that. If I ran now, he’d win. He’d think he could bully anyone into giving him whatever he wanted.
No way. My knees were shaking, but I was there.
As I walked inside, one of the custodians waved at me on her way to the custodian’s closet, but other than her, the hallway was empty. My heart pounded against my ribcage as I moved toward my classroom, half-convinced I’d find Harvey in there already.
I hoped not. After all, before yesterday, he hadn’t been nearly as pushy or aggressive. Maybe yesterday had been a one-off, and after my hasty retreat, he’d gotten the message and would leave me alone.
My stomach continued to churn despite my attempt at positive thinking.
When I finally made it to my classroom, it was still dark inside, and the door was closed, which I took to mean that it was empty. Harvey would’ve had to be a different kind of twisted to be in there waiting for me.
I slipped inside and shut the door. I had some basic classroom stuff to do at the back of the room, and it would take me at least until a few more teachers were here. If Harvey came looking for me, I hoped that would be enough to discourage him. At least for today.
Now, if only theotherman in my life could be so easily understood.
Even though I’d made up my mind about my relationship with Alec and distancing myself from him was undoubtedly the right thing to do, I’d enjoyed the time with him these past few days. Even this morning, with him being quiet, it’d still been nice to just have a meal with him and his daughter. Every time he smiled at Evanne, I liked him more.
More than I knew I should.
I just hoped I could stop before meeting with Alec later.
Twenty-Eight
Alec
By the timeI went back home, dropped Evanne off at her school, and made it to my office building, my head hadn’t cleared up in the slightest. I hadn’t really been thinking when I’d asked Lumen to stay the night. The rest of my day would be spent agonizing over what exactly I was going to say to her later today when we had our talk. Because we needed to have it. We couldn’t keep doing whateverthiswas that we were doing.
