Eventually, Jade did make it to the stage with her choir, and I could honestly say I enjoyed her part. That is, until I realized Jessie was watching, spellbound, from the floor in front of the stage. If I’d really tried, I could have touched her. But I didn’t. Because at least some of my pride was still intact. That, and Amy had my other arm in a vice grip.
About three years later, the show was done, and we were free to find our kids and get them home. Jade was easy to pick out in her sparkly pink cowgirl boots and tutu. I swept her up and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.
“I’m proud of you Geode. That was fantastic.”
“I’m a star,” she said with a smug little smile.
I laughed. “Yeah, I guess you are.”
“You were brilliant!” Amy squealed, throwing her arms around Jade and squeezing her in a hug that would have made my arms hurt.
Jade looked at me like someone was going to die. Before I could intervene, though, someone called her name.
“Jade,” a grating, familiar voice called from behind us. “You forgot your wand.”
Gritting my teeth, I turned to find Sam Newman following us. He was holding Jade’s little pink wand. She snatched it up and regarded it happily.
“Thank you,” my mom gushed. “She would have made us pay if we’d gotten home without it.” She stuck her hand out. “I’m Jade’s mom.”
“Sam Newman.” He shook her hand. “I’m not Jade’s teacher, obviously, but I teach in the classroom next door.”
He then shook my dad’s hand as well, which, unfortunately, brought him then to me.
“Sam,” I said, keeping my arms firmly around Jade while giving him the barest of nods I could manage.
“Derrick.” He returned the nod and folded his arms. We watched one another for a moment.
“You two know each other?” My mom turned to me, slightly uneasy.
“We’ve met,” I said.
“I haven’t.” Amy came forward. “I’m Amy, Derrick’s fiancée.”
“Ex-fiancée.” I gave her a look, but she ignored it.
“Well, that’s great. Hey, I hear you just got back from deployment,” Sam said, a benign smile suddenly gracing his thin face as he pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” What was he up to?
“Have you seen Jessie since you got back?” The words were polite enough, but his eyes were bright.
“Nope.”
“That’s too bad. I mean,” he turned to my mom, “she’s just been so busy. We were having coffee the other day, and she told me she doesn’t know if she’ll want to run the show next year.”
I swallowed the curse I wanted desperately to fling at the man. So she’d done it after all. After turning me down, she’d said yes to him. And for some reason, this felt worse than her first rejection. The world spun slightly, and I had to breathe deeply to stay standing.
“Ow.” Jade shoved one of my hands off her arm. “Too hard.”
“Well,” my mom said, sending me an uneasy glance, “tell her to let us know if she needs anything. She’s done so much for Jade that we’re happy to help her in whatever way we can.”
“Thank you so much.” Sam stared into her eyes as though she’d offered him a kidney replacement instead of asking him to deliver a message to another teacher. “That means a lot to me, and I know it will mean a lot to her.” His eyes flicked over to mine, and the hint of a smile played on his lips. “She’s a special person.” Then he turned back to Amy. “And it’s fantastic to meet you. I hear Derrick here has good taste in women.”
I’d heard enough. My parents could catch up when they felt like it. I turned and strode toward the car. Amy trailed along behind me, trying to keep up.
“Derrick? Why are we going so fast? I wanted a picture of your sister.”
But just as I walked out the door, I nearly collided with someone who was coming in.
