The whole incident rearranged itself in Ash’s mind. And while he still wasn’t happy that his daughter had pushed someone, the reason she had taken action suddenly made a whole lot more sense to him.
Maya had a fierce sense of right and wrong, and the injustice of that situation would have been just the kind of situation where she might act first and deal with the consequences later.
Miss Lawrence and the principal continued their conversation with the girls, encouraging Maya to think about the other options she had besides shoving to help Eloise be a better school citizen.
Ash listened, feeling awed that the young woman in the long skirt had been able to get to the bottom of the situation so quickly.
She’s Maya’s teacher,he thought to himself.She knows her well enough to know she wouldn’t do something like thatfor no reason.
And if that was true, then maybe Maya had made a good first impression after all.
He wished that he had some way to thank the kind teacher. Maybe he could pick up a small gift to show his appreciation. But for some reason, instead of the usual teacher gifts like coffee mugs and tote bags, when he looked at Miss Lawrence, Ash’s mind went right to flowers and chocolates.
3
ALLIE
Allie left the meeting and headed out across the parking lot.
The cold air felt good against her heated cheeks and the bright taste of snow was in the air.
Parent meetings always made her nervous, but today’s had gone about as well as possible. Maya had really thought about ways to confront someone without resorting to pushing. Eloise also seemed to take it to heart that jumping ahead in line wasn’t okay. And even her parents eased off a little once they understood the whole situation.
I’m glad Maya was brave enough to tell the truth.
So many times, children had the instinct to clam up or lie when they were faced with punishment. But Maya Tailor had stood up and taken responsibility for what she had done. It was pretty impressive for a five-year-old.
Now I have to do my part, and help her find ways to learn without getting distracted.
“Miss Lawrence, Miss Lawrence,” a little voice called out.
Allie turned to see Maya running toward her in that bright red coat, a familiar piece of paper fluttering in her mittened hand.
Allie automatically patted her pocket in case she was wrong, but came up empty. The brochure must have fallen out when she was leaving the school.
“You dropped this,” Maya panted, holding it out.
Maybe it was the way the glossy paper caught the glow of the afternoon sunlight, but all the magic that had drained away from it earlier in the day seemed to be back now that it was in Maya’s hand.
Allie took it, resisting the impulse to hug it to her chest.
“What is it?” Maya asked as her father caught up to them.
“Oh,” Allie said, suddenly feeling flustered in the presence of the tall man with the dark eyes that were fixed on her with such interest. “Just a project I thought would be fun.”
“You’re thinking of putting up a greenhouse?” Mr. Tailor asked.
“No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “It was just a silly idea I had.”
“What’s it for?” Maya asked.
“Well, if we had a greenhouse here at school, it could stay warm all year long,” Allie told her. “And we could grow things in it, like carrots or beans.”
“What would we do with them?” Maya asked, frowning.
“We would take care of our crop and help it grow, and then harvest it from the ground,” Allie said with a smile. “And then we could eat it.”
“You would grow it in the dirt and theneat it?”Maya asked, looking aghast.
