CHAPTER 35
Palmer
“Hello? Earth to Jamari?” I snap my fingers in front of his face. Jamari’s head is in his hands as he stares dreamily at my classroom door. “Reel it in, dude. Bring it back.”
He sighs wistfully, his eyes shifting slowly to meet mine. “I can’t, Ms. J. How am I supposed to just go back to working on math when I’ve just seen an angel?”
“Oh, my word.”
He’s talking about my new student, Eloise.
Her family just PCSed in from South Korea, and they came in to enroll her as well as meet me as her special education case manager.
I was supposed to meet them down in the front office, but with the number of teachers we have out from the most recent bout of whatever plague the students have shared with us all has climbed throughout the day, so they weren’t able to get a sub to cover my class.
I had told the office to just send them down to my classroom whenever they finished up with the registrar; it wouldn’t be that much of a distraction.
Not for me, at least. Jamari, however, appears to be planning his next grand gesture. I say “next” because Jamari is a bit of a ladies’ man.
Well, whatever the eighth-grade equivalent of a “ladies’ man” is.
Jamari looks at me and wiggles his brows, his locs swaying beside his cheeks. “What can I say, Ms. J? I’m a sucker for love.”
I laugh out loud. “Jamari, do you know how many times you have said that to me?”
He gestures at his chest, mouth agape but grinning.
“Exactly. Too dang many.”
“Ms. J!”
“Uh-uh, no, sir. Don’t Ms. J me. You really want to impress her? Do your math. I bet she’ll think that’s real cute.”
Jamari sucks his teeth at me, but he does put his pencil to paper. “Ooooh, my god, Ms. J. Stop playin’. Girls don’t think math is cute.” He lays his forehead on the table. “She’ll understand math isn’t really my thang.”
“Whatever you say, man. You still have to do the math.” I cross my arms across my chest, amusement etched on my face. “But for what it’s worth, bud, girls like guys who are kind and caring, not pretending to be some sort of Rico Suave.”
He screws up his face at me but continues his work. “Man, Ms. J, whenever you say stuff like that, you sound like my mom.”
“Wise and knowledgeable?”
“No.” Jamari giggles. “Old.”
I let out a laugh then reach for my classroom phone. “Oh, really? I bet your mom would love to hear—”
My feigned threat is interrupted by ringing.
“Ms. Jade’s room,” I answer cheerfully.
You’re lucky, I mouth to Jamari, who taunts me with a celebration dance.
“Hi, Ms. Jade, this is Mrs. Stephens. I just wanted to let you know that your boyfriend—”
My heart skips a beat.
“Called and said he is on his way here. He said he’s tried to reach you on your cell phone but—”
“But I forgot my watch at home and left my phone in my desk,” I finish for her. “Thanks, Mrs. Stephens. I’ll touch base with him.”
I hang up the phone and start toward my desk. Why on earth is Bailey on his way here?
“Jamari, go on back to class. I’ll come get you later for small group.”
He looks at me, worry on his face. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, of course! I just have to take care of a couple things.”
With a shrug, he darts out the door. “Later, Ms. J!”
“Straight to class!” I call out the door after him, but it closes before I hear his response. After digging the key out of my pocket, I unlock the desk and grab my phone.
7 missed calls.
2 voicemails.
5 text messages.
I start to panic a little bit. Over the past week, Bailey and I have spent almost all our free time together, and when we’re not together, we’re either messaging or on the phone. But he’s never shown up at work.
What if something happened?
What if something happened to him?
I shake my head and realize that is ridiculous. If something had happened to him, he wouldn’t be heading to see me right now. But why else would he be on his way here now?
I skim through the texts. The first three are from earlier this morning, but the last two are from recently.
Bailey: Palmer, call me ASAP please.
Bailey: I’m calling your school and headed that way now.
I stride toward the front office as I press play to listen to the voicemails, my stomach tying itself in knots.
10:43 a.m. “Hey, Palmer. Can you call me back soon? I don’t have a ton of time and… just call me back please.”
10:47 a.m. “Okay, don’t hate me, but I’m calling the school. I’ll see you soon, baby. I—all right, see you then.”
A call coming through interrupts the voicemail.
Bailey.
I fumble with the phone and answer the call. “Bailey?” I can tell by the road noise in the background that he’s in his truck.
“Hey, baby. I’m sorry for all the calls. I’m about two minutes out. Can you meet me outside?” His voice is rushed, but he seems calm.
Regardless, my stomach still threatens to spill its contents. “Yeah. Is everything okay?”
Bailey curses. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you. Everything is okay. I’m okay. It’s okay. I’ll explain when I get there.”
“Okay. Yeah, I’ll meet you outside.” I gesture out the front door to the secretary as I talk, and she acknowledges me with a thumbs up. I wish I felt as nonchalant as both she and Bailey seem right now.
“See you in a sec.”