Page 63 of Freefall

She shrugs.

I brush a loose strand of hair that escaped her braid behind her ear. “We’ll talk more about this later, okay?”

She nods, and I kiss the top of her head. “Come on. Let’s get you back to class.”

We’re about to head out when Ms. Dawson appears at the door, nearly walking straight into Nate.

“Oh!” Color rushes to her cheeks. “I’m sorry, si—” She catches herself. “Nate.”

She shakes her head like she’s mentally kicking herself, then looks at me. “How did it go in there?”

I must frown because she gives me a sympathetic smile. “Mr. Bennett can be a little old school.”

Old school? The man is like thirty.

“Yeah,” I agree.

“Between you and me, Kellen has had some behavior issues, and what he said was not okay. I’ll be speaking with his parents myself.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Her eyes drift back to Nate. Just for a second, but long enough for me to catch the faint blush creeping up her neck. “Come on, Daisy. I’ll walk you back. The class should be getting back from the library pretty soon.”

Daisy smiles, slipping her hand into her teacher’s. But before they disappear down the hallway, Ms. Dawson looks over her shoulder. “She’s a great kid, Harper.”

“I know,” I say, my voice coming out rougher than I expect. “I got lucky.”

I’m still reeling when the cool air hits my face as I walk briskly toward my car. I head toward my Jeep without waiting for Nate. My thoughts are too loud. Too jumbled.

“Harper,” he calls, but I keep walking.

He stood up for me. He stood up for Daisy. He put Bennett in his place for being sexist, and he didn’t let Daisy get away with lashing out. But he did it all without checking in with me first, and he admitted to being Daisy’s father in a moment of anger.

“Harper.” His footsteps beat on the pavement, growing louder the closer we get to my car. “Slow the fuck down.”

I don’t. I can’t deal with him right now. Between his admission and Mr.Bennett and that weird interaction with Ms. Dawson…I stop so abruptly that his chest smacks into my back. Suddenly, it all makes sense. Ms. Dawson’s odd behavior when she saw Nate at back-to-school night. Her near-Freudian slip just now. That blush.

She knew his name.

I spin around so I’m facing him. “How did she know your name?”

He looks down at the ground. Then back up again. He doesn’t need to ask who I’m referring to.

A laugh escapes before I can stop it. “You.” I shake my head. Of course. I should have known. I reach for my keys, fumbling with them before sliding one into the door.

“Don’t do that, Harper.” His voice is calm as ever. “If you have something you want to ask me, then ask it.”

I slowly pull the key back out of the lock, closing the door to the Jeep. “Okay. You slept with her.”

“That’s not a question.”

“No,” I admit. “I guess it’s not.”

“It was one night.”

I tilt my head. “So you had a one-night stand with our daughter’s teacher?”