“Dillon Kirby, the cute one?”
“Uh, yep. That’s him.”
“I see his mother at yoga.” She nudged me. “Dillon’s grown up a lot, hasn’t he?” Her tone dripped with innuendo.
“Um, I guess. But I like my guys older, personally.”
“I sense gossip. Who’s the lucky older man?”
“Oh,no one. There’s nobody. Not at all.”
“Uh huh.” She did not look convinced.
Hopefully, I wasn’t blushing.
I said goodbye and took the hallway for Ollie’s class. Time to pick up my pace. I wasn’t late, but it was close.
I was here today to wax poetic to Ollie’s class about the joys of running my own coffee shop. Most of the kids had been to Silver Linings before, so my career day presentation would at least have some relevance to them.
Never mind the fact that the cozy atmosphere of my coffee shop sometimes felt out of step with the stresses of my real life. Especially lately.
But Ollie’s teacher hadn’t invited me to hear my complaints about bills or ex-husbands. Or my confusing feelings for handsome, older men with the last name O’Neal.
Nope, I was here to make owning a small business sound like never-ending fun. And if all else failed, bribing fourth graders with cupcakes certainly couldn’t hurt.
A hum of happy kid voices came from Ollie’s classroom up ahead. A handful of other parents waited outside in the hall, checking phones or chatting quietly.
I stopped so abruptly the tray of cupcakes almost went sideways.
Danny stood near the classroom door, leaning against the cinderblock wall and smiling his perfectly white smile. He was wearing pressed khakis and his typical polo with an expensive coat over his arm. Clean-cut and professional. Every inch the respectable dentist and the devoted father.
My stomach roiled, bile inching into my throat.
“Danny.” I kept my voice low as I approached, aware of the other parents watching. “What are you doing here?”
He straightened, offering that smooth smile that had fooled me completely, once up on a time.
“Career day, Piper,” he said patronizingly. “I was on the email list the teacher sent out, just like you. Thought it would be nice to surprise Ollie.”
“A surprise. Wow. Could I have a word, please?”
“Maybe you don’t mind being late, Piper, but?—”
“Now,” I hissed.
My pulse was racing as I led Danny away from the cluster of parents and down the hall. When we were far enough, I turned on him, still keeping my voice to a harsh whisper.
“You can’t just show up with no warning. Not after what you did last week.”
“And what exactly did I do?”
Beads of sweat broke out along my sides. “You broke into my rental property,” I said through gritted teeth. “Youchoked me.” The last two words shook on their way out, and I hated how broken I sounded.
Danny grimaced. “God, Piper. I’m sorry about all that. Seriously. It was a misunderstanding.”
“Amisunderstanding?” I repeated, still feeling his fingers at my neck. My own hands shook so hard I was afraid I’d drop the cupcakes. “You attacked me.”
He glanced back at the other parents. “Don’t blow it out of proportion. If anyone got attacked, it wasme. By your criminal boyfriend.”
