Page 36 of Whisper Sweet Nothings
She was enjoying this.
Way to spread the holiday cheer.
My free hand fisted at my side, but I kept my composure.
“I see,Mrs. Grouch.” I forced a smile.
“It’s Mrs. Groucher,” she snipped.
“Oh yes. Sorry about that. The name really does suit you. Have a wonderful weekend.” I took the backpack from Melody while the older woman studied me as if she wasn’t sure if I’d just offended her intentionally.
I’d definitely offended her intentionally.
I’d be writing her ass into a book and torturing her in the future.
How dare she break the spirit of this little angel.
I turned, and we walked out the door, Melody’s hand in mine. Once we were outside, I bent down to face her again. “Look at me, sweet pea.”
“Okay, Winnie. I’m looking at you,” she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Do you think Daddy’s going to be mad at me for getting in trouble at school?”
“I don’t think so. You were helping a friend. And I understand that there are rules, but sometimes there are gray areas. And this was a gray area.” I swiped the tear away with the pad of my thumb.
“What’s a gray area mean?”
“It means sometimes you need to do something that might get you to miss Fun Friday because it’s the right thing to do.” I pulled her in for a hug. “You helped a friend who was asking for help. That’s never a bad thing.”
“Josh wasn’t in the class when she gave the ’rections. He came late to school, so he didn’t know what to do.”
He wasn’t even there?
My blood was boiling. How could he have listened if he wasn’t even there?
“Did Mrs. Groucher know that he missed the directions?”
“Yep. She said it was his choice that he was late, and his choice that he didn’t listen.” She shrugged. “And he was sniffing like he was trying not to cry. And my daddy told me to always help someone if they’re sad.”
“How about we have our own little Fun Friday?”
“You want to do centers and not talk to each other?” she asked, and I laughed.
“I don’t want to do that.” I pushed back up to stand. “I want to go get hot chocolate and cookies at the Honey Biscuit Café and then go pick out some gift wrap at Strawberry Fields because I told your daddy I’d help him wrap some Christmas presents this weekend.”
“That sounds like the best Fun Friday, Winnie.”
A gust of wind blew past us, and I zipped her coat up to just beneath her chin and took her hand in mine. I had access tothe car that Bridger had loaned me, but we usually walked most places because everything was so close. We were only a block from downtown, and then it was just a short walk home.
“It sure does. Let’s do this.”
I sent a quick text to Archer to let him know that we were stopping for hot chocolate, because the man loved to know what we were doing. We texted all day, even when Melody was at school. He was always checking in.
He’d text to ask about dinner or activities, or he’d inquire about holiday shopping.
We’d become friends, and we spent a lot of time together.
But every night after we’d all have dinner, he’d end things fairly abruptly, which always made me wonder if maybe he was sneaking a woman in once he put Melody to bed. But I’d woken up a few times in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep and I’d come into the kitchen to get a snack, and it had always been very quiet.
Maybe Archer Chadwick was a quiet lover.
