I was mindful of the speed limit as I attempted to temper my mood before getting to the school. I wasn’t even angry anymore. I was at my wit’s end. I literally felt like I could cry, but there was no way I would go in that building distraught. I couldn’t let my son see me like that.
I knew I needed to keep it together for Cam. Whatever was going on with him, we would figure it out together. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was disappointed in him. If anything, I was disappointed in myself for the way I was letting my son down.
I found a parking spot near the door and hopped out of my car. Once I was out of the car, I took a deep breath as my feet carried me closer and closer to the entrance. Why in the world did I feel like I was walking into the principal’s office? I mean, I was, but not for me. I was going in on behalf of my son. I wasn’t the one who was in trouble. I wasn’t the one in trouble, so why did I feel so bad?
I felt like such a failure for not being able to get through to my son. Cameron had always been such a sweet and bright boy. Now I felt like I was losing him. Wasn’t it too early for that? I thought I had more time before he became an angsty teenager that hated everything. This was still my little boy. I knew there was something I could do to save him. I just wasn’t sure what that thing was yet.
I was so angry with myself and Kenny for putting Cameron through this divorce. That didn’t mean I would make excuses for my son’s behavior. Something had to give. No matter how much of a pep talk I gave myself, I was fuming when I tore the door open to the principal’s office.
Whatever speech I’d prepared for my son died on my lips as soon as I walked into the room. As my eyes shifted froma middled-aged man sitting behind the desk to the one who kneeled in front of my son, talking to him, I could have passed out on the spot. Cameron’s watery eyes tugged at my heart strings as the man held his eye contact and spoke to him calmly. His calming voice did nothing to settle my nerves.
“Cameron, stand up!” I demanded, capturing the attention of the man speaking to him. My heart sank when our eyes connected. I had to get out of there.
“Harper.” His buttery, smooth voice was barely over a whisper, but the familiarity was loud. My knees felt wobbly as he stood to his full height. How was he even taller now?
“What’s his punishment?” I asked, turning my attention to the man who must have been the assistant principal.
“This is the second incident in less than a week. Clearly, Cameron is having some trouble adjusting to his new environment.”
“This is all new for us both. I never had any trouble out of him in the past. I’m in no way making any excuses for him, but we’ve had a lot of changes lately.”
“Be that as it may, he and the other boy got a couple of days of detention. According to Doctor St. John, Cameron is leaps and bounds ahead of many of the kids in our after-school stem program. He’s interested in joining. We figured it could be a great way to redirect some of his energy, but it might take some time.”
“I’m not even sure if I’m letting him participate in the program at this point.”
“Mom,” my son whined.
“Let’s go, Cameron,” I ordered.
“Harper, wait,” Doctor St. John called behind me as I made my exit.
“Thank you both. I’ve got it from here,” I said, taking my son’s hand and not looking back until I was out of the building.
Even then, it was just a quick glance to make sure he didn’t come after me. The last thing in the world I wanted to do right now was talk to him, not yet anyway. Not like this. If Jordy St. John was involved, there was no way Cameron was joining that program now.
It was her.
“Harper, wait!” I called behind her when I finally found my voice again.
It was Harper,myHarper. I didn’t know what I expected after all these years, but it definitely wasn’t for her to act like she didn’t even hear me talking. I guessed I deserved that.
It had been far too long since those haunting, brown eyes seared a hole in my heart. Even with a thunderstorm raging behind her eyes, Harper was as beautiful as ever. Shit, she might have looked even better.
It took far too long for me to give up trying to find her. Still, a large part of my heart belonged to her, and it always would. Seeing her made me feel like I just might get the chance to rightmy wrong. Losing Harper had been the biggest mistake I’d ever made.
A few years ago, my mom casually mentioned that Harper had gotten married. That was probably two or three years after she fell off the radar. My mom only knew about it because Harper’s mom visited the clinic and mentioned it when they were catching up.
It crushed me to hear that she had moved on when I knew I never could. At the same time, I wanted the best for her. Harper deserved to be happy even if she wasn’t with me. When she stormed out of the principal’s office, I wanted to run behind her. I knew this was neither the time nor the place to talk to her, but I wanted her to know that we needed to talk.
Knowing that Harper was back in the area gave me hope. Her son had only been enrolled in the school for about a week. I didn’t care that my mom had said Harper was married. I was getting my girl back. I had to make things right and hold on to her for dear life this time.
“Mr. Collins, I’ll follow up with you about the science fair.”
“Doctor Jay, thank you again for stepping in to talk to the young man. Hopefully we will make some progress with him.”
“We will. He just needs a little time to adjust,” I assured Mr. Collins before making a dash for the door.
I didn’t care how conspicuous it looked. Yes, I was going after Harper. Of course, I was. It was Harper. After all this time, she came back to me.
