Nicole smiles. “She loves math.”
“Talk to you after school?” I ask quietly.
“Sure. I’ll stop down.”
I nod and wave at the kiddos as I leave.
3
Isabelle
“She just needs more practice,”I say, handing Nicole a bottle of water from my mini fridge. “And it doesn’t seem as though Nash has the time.”
“Hmm….” She sips from her bottle.
“She can sound out her words, but it takes her a lot of time.”
“I noticed that too. So, we need to talk to Nash?” Nicole’s face is probably the mirror of mine. My brow is arched, and I have a weak smile on my lips.
“Should we talk to him together?”Please say no. I hold my breath waiting for Nicole’s response.Tell me you want to do the talking.
“Aren’t you old friends?” Nicole smiles sweetly.
“No. I saw him at Open House, and he barely acknowledged me. I don’t think he recognized me.” Heck, it was the same at Isaac’s wedding.
Her eyes give me a once-over. “That’s possible, but he’s best buds with Isaac. Maybe Isaac could call him?”
“And Isaac lives in Omaha now with his wife, Kelly. I won’t be able to use my brother for this anyway. Student confidentiality. Remember?” I snort. Nerves.
“Right.” She taps her short, red nails on my table. “We can’t wait until conferences. That’s two months away.”
“True.” Man, she is really doing her best to avoid talking to Nash. “Nicole? What’s going on? Why don’t you want to talk to Nash about this?”
I watch her breathe deep and release a gust of air as she lets her head fall back on her shoulders until she’s looking up at my ceiling. “Cute.” She points up. I’ve put paper planets and stars up there for fun classroom decorations. She’s avoiding the question. Looking down at me, she bites her bottom lip. “She and I used to be best friends.”
I know who she’s talking about. Ivy. “I know.”
“He doesn’t blame me or anything, but he never looks me in the eye.”
“Why would he blame you?”
“I encouraged her talents. I supported her dreams.”
“As a best friend should.”
“I swear to you. I didn’t think she’d leave. Especially like that.”
“Nobody saw that coming.”
“Honestly, I can’t believe he didn’t ask for Andi to be changed over to Emma’s classroom.”
“I’m not.” He’s not the kind of person to flex his muscles that way. “He’s busy with the farm now that he’s running it on his own.” His dad died a few years back and left everything for Nash to run.
“God.” She runs her fingers through her short, dark hair. “He got so screwed.”
“He got Andi. I’d say he was pretty lucky.”
Nicole eyes me warily. “He’s such a broody asshole. Nothing like he was in high school. He was a fucking blast back then. Star quarterback and an amazing pitcher on the baseball team. He was the best-looking guy wherever he went, and he had Ivy on his arm. The most beautiful girl this town has ever seen. They were perfect together.”
