But working in a corporate setting wasn’t the same thing as being outside all day fighting to nurture plant or animal life in spite of harsh weather, a changing marketplace, and every other challenge the farmers and workers faced out here.
The pickup was a faded but cheerful red, and the engine turned over with an enthusiastic growl every time he turned the key.
Pulling down the long drive, he was reminded why he’d moved them out here in the first place. Maya would grow up with woods and fields to explore. The banks of Stone Creek were icy now, but in the spring the two of them would climb down and hunt for crawdads or searchfor pretty rocks, smoothed by centuries of water moving over them.
Remember that when you’re in this meeting,he told himself.
He turned onto Fox Hollow Road and followed it south. The countryside disappeared too soon into blocks of suburban homes and the next thing he knew, he was turning onto Maple Street and parking outside the school.
He headed up the walk as the last of the afternoon kindergarten stragglers came out to greet their parents.
Ash dropped Maya off himself in the mornings, but she attended the afternoon program at the church after school. It made her day a little longer, but the church mostly had the kids out on the playground and doing fun activities, so it was pretty low pressure. And those extra hours bought him enough time to get his work done before she came home.
But if I just brought her home after morning kindergarten she wouldn’t have been in that bus line…
“Hi there, Mr. Tailor,” Miss Wiggins, the school secretary, said in her quavery voice. “Principal Chittenden and the others are in her office.”
But Ash ignored her, because Maya was sitting on the bench across from the counter, looking dejected.
Another little girl with neat blonde ponytails and a pristine ruffled skirt sat on the other bench, swinging her legs with a pleased look on her face. He didn’t have to ask to know that this was the kid who had been pushed.
“Hey, Maya,” Ash said, crouching to lookher in the eye.
But her little face stayed fixed on the floor tiles.
Ash waited.
She lifted her chin slowly at last, her dark eyes catching on his, so much worry in them.
His heart ached at the sight. She was too little to feel guilt like that.
“You’re my daughter,” he told her, keeping his voice low and steady. “I love you no matter what.”
Her expression transformed. She was still really sad, but he could see her posture lift a little and her chest puff slightly, like she’d taken a real breath.
He patted her knee and then rose and headed into the principal’s small office.
A pair of well-dressed and much more obvious flatlanders sat on one side of the desk. Tiny Principal Chittenden sat behind it, and a shy-looking middle-aged woman in a red sweater sat on one side.
“Mr. Tailor,” Principal Chittenden said, hopping up and extending her hand. “Thank you so much for coming in.”
The principal was so tiny that he was afraid he would crush her hand, but her grip was firm and confident.
“Of course,” he said, taking the seat she indicated.
“Mr. Tailor, this is Mr. and Mrs. Lewis,” she said. “And this is Miss Erin, the aide who walked the children to the bus.”
“Nice to meet you all,” he said politely.
The husband nodded and the wife just sniffed at him.
Miss Erin smiled and said hello.
“Circumstances like this one are often difficult,” the principal said. “But we have to remember that thesestudents are very young, and they’re just learning how to handle their impulses in group situations.”
Ash nodded, grateful that she wasn’t starting off by vilifying his daughter.
“I don’t think there’s anything difficult about this,” Mr. Lewis said abruptly.
