CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Carrie
It had been a few months since Thatcher moved back to Indigo Falls full-time. The new branch of Caldwell Financial had opened to great fanfare and was apparently doing very well. Theo was loving the fact that his daddy never missed any more of his activities.
I had to admit that I loved having him close again, too. Even having my mom and dad in town and Thatcher being here part-time had been difficult as a single mom at times. I didn’t know how single mothers with no family support did it. They were true heroes.
I pulled into my parking spot at the high school, then got Theo out. I checked his backpack one more time even though it was on his back. “What are you doing, Mommy?”
“Today’s library day. I was checking to be sure Daddy remembered to put your book in here.”
“He did.”
“I see that.” I smiled and held his hand.
We walked hurriedly to the sidewalk, my heels clicking on the pavement.
It was a luxury that the elementary, middle, and high schools were all right together in Indigo Falls.
It was much quicker for me to walk Theo to his school rather than suffer through the horrors of the car rider line.
I waved goodbye to him as he entered the building, then turned to hurry and get to my morning duty position in the hall outside my classroom.
Today was my birthday, but I hadn’t said anything to Theo yet. He’d get too excited and not be able to concentrate on school if I did. His mind would be on cake and ice cream, not reading or math.
Jon met me as I signed in and walked down the main hall to get to my classroom.
It wasn’t long after I’d kissed Thatcher that time in the kitchen that I’d realized I no longer felt butterflies when I saw Jon, and that had been…
concerning. I knew I should still have those feelings if I was really into him.
I’d broken up with him after a couple of more weeks of that.
We’d both been sad. At one time, I’d really imagined a future with Jon.
But Theo had never really warmed up to him, and I needed him to love whoever I ended up with.
And the truth was, I couldn’t deny that I still had feelings for my ex-husband.
And that wasn’t fair to Jon. We’d vowed to stay friends, and I’d meant it.
I wasn’t one of those girls who promised that lightly.
I smiled, still feeling a little guilty.
He’d taken the breakup hard, and he was such a nice guy.
He was great-looking, too. He was tall and built, with dark hair and bright green eyes.
He was one of Indigo Falls’ only claims to fame.
He was the only athlete from our town to ever make it to the pros.
He’d played in the NFL for several seasons before an injury forced him to retire.
Then he’d come back home and was immediately hired as a PE teacher and assistant football coach.
He’d gotten the head coach position a couple of years ago when the old coach retired.
He’d been a few years ahead of me in school, so I barely remembered him as anything more than a legend everyone talked about. We’d bonded over our mutual love of outdoor activities and had been dating for a little over a year when I ended things.
I’d thought I was in love with him at one point, but looking back on it made me less sure. The sex had been good with him, too, but not as good as with Thatcher. I hadn’t found anyone yet who made me feel like he did. Or made me come as hard as he had.
“Why are you blushing?” Jon grinned at me.
“Um, no reason. I think I’m just a bit warm.” I fanned my face for a minute to prove my point. God. I couldn’t tell him it was because I’d been thinking about how hard my ex-husband had made me come.
In fact, I had been thinking an awful lot about Thatcher lately, and it was kind of messing with my mind.
The things he’d said when he’d told me he was moving back to town full-time had stayed with me.
I couldn’t lie to myself. I was still very attracted to him.
If anything, he’d gotten more handsome over the past few years.
Sometimes I found myself staring at him, taking in his trim, muscular body, bright blue eyes, and his blond hair that was slowly graying at the temples.
I still dreamed about him at night. I’d never told anyone that, not even Blair.
The old saying was right. There really is a thin line between love and hate.
Our relationship has run the gamut. I loved him faithfully and unquestioningly for years before the affair broke us.
After that, I only felt hatred towards him.
It wasn’t an emotion I was used to feeling, and I’d known I had to let it go or it would hurt me and probably Theo, too.
It had moved more to acceptance, a kind of numbness that protected me from that level of emotion.
Then, slowly, it had turned to friendship.
It had stayed there for years, despite a physical awareness between us that never quite went away.
And now? Well. It seemed to be moving towards something way more than friends.
And that scared the hell out of me and excited me at the same time.
How could I be thinking of getting back with the man who’d shattered my heart?
Maybe it was because he was also the man who helped me recover from my C-section, had been an incredible dad to our son from day one, had done nothing but try to prove himself to me since he’d cheated, and had moved back to town to be closer to me and our son.
And he’d given up running his family company to do it.
And so, I’d agreed to a date with him tonight, on my birthday. It made me nervous as hell, but it also felt… inevitable. As if we were always meant to be together, and fate was taking over.
“Happy birthday,” Jon said, whipping a vase full of beautiful pink roses out from behind his back.
“Oh, thank you!” He’d effectively ended my thoughts of Thatcher for now. “That is so sweet.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek, then wiped my lipstick off his skin with my thumb.
“I just wanted you to have something pretty this morning.”
“Thank you so much.” We walked together to my classroom for me to put them on my desk. I stopped short when I saw what was already waiting on me. “Oh my God.”
A truly massive arrangement of hydrangeas, peonies, and cabbage roses took up almost the whole surface of my desk. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I walked over and pulled the card off.
“Let me guess,” Jon said in a petulant voice. “They’re from Thatcher.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’re not. My parents probably sent them.” Even though we were through, Jon still seemed to harbor resentment towards Thatcher. I think he sensed that if my ex-husband wasn’t around, I might’ve fallen for him.
I opened the card.
To the best Mom, friend, and person I’ve ever known. You’re the love of my life. Happy birthday, beautiful.
Love,
Thatcher
I hid the card against my chest, but he’d already seen. His face didn’t even look angry, just resigned. “That guy is never going to let you go. Not really. He’s always going to be in your life, isn’t he?”
I stared at him. “I mean… yeah. He’s the father of my child.”
“I’m starting to think he’s more than that, Carrie.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry. I know it’s not my business anymore. And it’s your birthday. Have a good morning. I’ll see you later.” He gave me a tight smile before walking off.
He almost ran over Margot, the school librarian, on his way out. He had to reach out and grab her by her upper arms to keep her from falling over. “Sorry, Margot.”
“That’s okay,” the quiet woman said. She was a stereotypical librarian who wore dowdy clothes, glasses, and always had her hair back in a tight bun or ponytail. It was difficult to tell her age, but I didn’t think she was much older than I was.
She pushed her glasses up on her nose and watched him walking away for a moment before turning to me. “Um, sorry about that.” She handed me what looked like a birthday card. I was shocked. Why would Margot be giving me a card? We’d spoken maybe ten words the whole school year.
“This was in my box,” she said.
That made more sense. Her last name was Crandall and mine was Crenshaw. We were always getting each other’s mail in our teacher boxes in the lounge.
“Thanks,” I said already opening it and seeing that it was also from Thatcher.
“Sure,” she said walking slowly towards the door. Right before she got there, she stopped and turned back around. “Um…” her face had turned a violent shade of pink, “Did you and Jon…” her voice trailed off. “Never mind.” She started to hurry out.
“Wait,” I called, following her. “Are you asking if Jon and I broke up?”
If possible, her face got even brighter pink. “Er… yes.”
“We did,” I said, trying to hide my curiosity. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” she said, turning and hurrying down the hall.
I watched after her, delighted by this turn of events. I wondered briefly what Margot might look like under all those frumpy clothes.
Then I turned back to my classroom to see what Thatcher had sent me. He’d been keeping our date a complete surprise, so I hoped the card would give me a clue.
It did. The card contained tickets to a musical I’d been wanting to see. It was playing at the Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta.
Carrie,
I’ll pick you up at 3:30. We’re going to the early show, and I have dinner reservations afterwards.
I already talked to your principal, and you have permission to leave early since your planning period is at the end of the day.
Don’t worry—your mom is picking up Theo.
He’s spending the night with your parents tonight.
Also, enjoy your lunch. It will be delivered to your room during your lunch break. There will be enough for Melinda and Sadie. And Jon, I guess.
Looking forward to a wonderful evening with the birthday girl,
Love,
Thatcher