I hear Declan mumble an obscenity behind me.Oh, that’s right.Declan dated her after me.
Poor Tammy looks a little out of her depth.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.I should have called.”
That would have been a trick, since my number’s unlisted.
Her eyes are scanning the house.She looks shocked.
“Are you here for Emma?”I ask.
“What?No.I was hoping I might speak to you.”
Something about this feels wrong.Off.I don’t like it.“Let’s talk outside,” I say, and Special K is already herding Tammy onto the porch and down the steps to the ranch lane.
“It’s a bit of a delicate subject,” she says, looking around at my brothers.“Oh, hello, Declan.Nice to see you.”
“Hello.”His voice is devoid of any humor, which doesn’t often happen.
“Whatever you need to say can be said in front of all of us,” Evander says.
“All right.Well,” she laughs nervously.“I thought you should know that your maid has been pretending to be Jasmine’s mother.It’s kind of embarrassing, really.”
I nod, waiting for whatever juicy details Tammy came here to share.
“Anyway, she’s going around talking to the principal about Jasmine’s reading comprehension problems, even though she’s not a parent or guardian and that kind of academic information is protected by law.”
I decide to let Evander handle this, since he’s the attorney.
“Personally identifiable information in an educational setting is indeed protected.Which begs the question—how are you privy to a conversation between Emma and the principal?”
She stammers.She’s flustered.I don’t like this at all.
“What did you say to Emma, Tammy?”I take a step closer to her.“Were you unkind…again?I sure hope not.”
“What?Of course not!I just thought you should know in case you wanted to set boundaries with your cleaner so she doesn’t do something like that in the future.I mean, she even thinks it’s okay to be a school volunteer.”
“She wasaskedto volunteer.”
“Well, she should have declined.”
“When’s the next volunteer event?”
“Well, we have a planning meeting after school today, followed by snacks and a cornhole competition.”
“I love cornhole,” Declan says.
“I’ll talk to Emma,” I say.
She brightens.“Thank you!That’s wonderful to hear.”
Special K steps away and opens the driver’s side door for her, a not-so-subtle hint that Tammy needs to get the fuck out.
“Oh.”Tammy smiles, trying to hide her embarrassment at having overstayed her welcome.“The ranch looks lovely!”
Special K clears his throat.
“Drive carefully,” Evander says.
