“Daddy!”
His exhale was so deep that it vibrated. “Yes, baby?”
“Daddy, this is my best friend, Abbi.”
His brows rose. “Abbi?” He looked from her to me and back. “Didn’t you say she’s the one who pushed you?”
Ellie pointed toward a different section of kids. “That’s Abby with aY, Daddy.” She pointed at the blonde next to her. “This is Abbi with anI.” She giggled. “That’s what Coach calls them. And Abbi with anIis my bestest friend.”
“Abbi with anI.” He rubbed his lips together. “I see.” He took a deep breath. “Hello, Abbi with anI. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hiii, Mr. Weston,” my daughter said.
I smiled at the kids. “Sweetie, why don’t you and Ellie go meet Coach in the middle of the mats? It looks like she’s about ready to start class.”
“Okay,” my girl sang.
“Hi, Mrs. Rivers.” Ellie waved at me.
“Hello, Ellie.”
As the girls ran to their coach, I faced Colson. There wasn’tan inch of my body that wasn’t fuming. “Do you have something you’d like to say to me?”
He sucked his lips inward before slowly releasing them. “I thought …”
“You thought, yet you were dead wrong.” I held out one hand, gripping my pointer finger with the other. “You attacked my parenting skills.” I moved to my middle finger. “You falsely accused my daughter.” I held my ring finger. “And you referenced that my daughter was just like me—a bully.” My arms folded back over my chest. “What other incorrect allegations would you like to throw my way, Mr. Weston?”
His lips were open, but nothing was coming out of them.
“I’m hoping the next thing that comes out of your mouth is an apology. Because I deserve one.”
I could tell that today had done a real number on him. His tie was no longer at his throat. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone. His hair, which had been gelled this morning, now looked like he’d run his hands through it no less than a hundred times.
Good. He deserved the day from hell. I hoped his day only got worse.
No one talked about my kid, especially not Colson Weston.
“I apologize. Easy mistake.” He lifted his shoulders, as though he’d done nothing wrong. “How the hell was I supposed to know there were two girls with the same name in my daughter’s class and they spelled them differently? You would have done the same thing if someone had bullied your daughter.”
I pressed my chest out. “That’s where you’re incorrect. I would have ensured I’d identified the right person before I attacked them.”
“Attacked?” He smirked. “You need to get your definitions straight. I talked to you. I did not?—”
“You attacked me,Colson.”
“Oh, like you did to me this morning.”
Was this man serious?
My top lip curled. “That’s not at all what I did?—”
“My opinion is that you attacked me. And your opinion is that I attacked you. Sounds like we’re on equal ground.”
I shook my head. “We’re not standing on the same ground, and there’s nothing equal about us.”
“No?”
“No!”
