Chapter 26 #2
left with scars and gaping holes where his vital organs had once been. The only reason Jackson believed he hadn’t done enough
was because every time he’d fought, he’d lost. But he couldn’t have acted any differently. Not without sacrificing his daughter
or his integrity.
“I’m waiting,” Jackson said.
Nick jabbed at his forehead with his fingers. “I don’t know. Ask me again when it’s not seven in the morning, okay? It’s too
early for this. And your cheeriness is fucking with my head.”
“Good.” Jackson readjusted his grip on the wheel. “I’m glad something is.”
Nick grumbled out a response even he didn’t know the meaning of.
More miles passed. They stopped in Pennsylvania to gas up the truck and get Nick coffee. Once the caffeine hit his bloodstream,
he pulled out his phone. He needed to take his mind off that damn Broadway show, and with nine hours to go, he had plenty
of time to cook up a letter for MontanaBirder81.
After all, he owed the guy, fair and square.
He leaned his forehead against the icy window and closed his eyes in a search for inspiration. Go to war, Jackson had said. Like it was that easy. But for a moment, Nick pretended he was in a position to do exactly that. He drifted
back to last Saturday, when Aubrey had touched him again, after all these years, in ways only she ever had. With possessiveness.
And in that single, perfect slice outside of time, he’d been hers again.
He opened his eyes. He knew what his letter would say. He just had to get one thing clear.
He typed out a message to John. Do you love Jane? And if so, do you want her to know?
The reply came within minutes. Sure, I do.
That galvanized him. Words burbled up. He splashed them across the screen, swiping and deleting and rephrasing until his finest
work to date took shape. It was a do-or-die, all-cards-on-the-table kind of declaration.
He hit Send, then settled back in his seat. If Jane had liked his earlier letters, which it seemed she had, then somewhere
in Montana, very soon, John would be making love to his new woman.
Meanwhile, Nick would be jerking off in the shower. Again.
Hurray.
He started to tuck his phone away, then paused when it rang in his hand. He frowned down at the caller ID. It was Sunday.
Why was he getting a call from Paige’s biology teacher?
Years ago, he’d saved Juan Gallegos’s number after doing some welding work constructing a firepit for the guy’s admittedly
impressive garden. The pay had netted Nick enough to take Paige and Tansy to the grandiose water park in Indianapolis for
a weekend.
But he hadn’t spoken to Juan since.
“Hello?” Nick glanced at the dash clock, his frown deepening. It was only eight o’clock in Indiana.
“Hi, is Nick Thacker there?”
“Yeah, this is him. What’s up?”
A beat of silence sizzled on the line. “Hi, Mr. Thacker. This is Juan Gallegos, Paige’s biology—”
“I know who you are, Juan. Why’re you talking to me like we haven’t met?”
“Sorry.” Juan sounded breathy. Nervous. Nick imagined him at his breakfast table in full science-teacher regalia, wearing one of those absurd ties he favored, like the bright yellow monstrosity that had Science Is Fun! written all over it.
“Uh, normally I wouldn’t call a parent in a situation like this, but since it’s Paige, and since she’s normally such a stellar
student, and you and I are acquainted, I thought I’d address it personally, without involving the faculty.”
Nick’s spine snapped straight. “What’re you talking about? What ‘situation’?”
“Paige hasn’t turned in her genetics assignment.” Juan’s tone made it clear he expected Nick to understand the significance
of this. “I gave her a two-day extension, but when she missed that deadline, too, I confronted her. At which point she told
me to, and I quote, ‘get out of my face.’”
Nick laughed. “No, she didn’t.”
The line fizzed and popped. As the silence dragged, the smile slid off Nick’s face. “Wait, what? Really? Why would she say
that? She’s never talked back to a teacher in her life. She’s never even talked back to me.”
Jackson jerked a glance at him, one eyebrow raised. Nick gave him a helpless look.
“I don’t know,” Juan said slowly. “I was hoping you could shed some light, here. Her track record is pristine, so I’m willing
to cut her some slack, but I don’t appreciate being insulted by my students. And I’ll have to fail her for the assignment
if she doesn’t turn it in. Like I said, I normally wouldn’t circumvent the proper channels, but I’m hoping this is all a misunderstanding.”
“It must be.” Nick breathed heavily into the phone. “And yeah, I’ll talk to her. Absolutely. I’m sorry she said that. But
there must be an explanation.”
“I hope so. She has until the end of the week for the assignment, but after that, I’ll have to give her a zero. It’s worth a quarter of her grade, so it’ll be hard for her to skate through with anything higher than a C-minus.”
“Sure, I understand.” Nick went through the requisite ritual before hanging up.
A C-minus. Paige had never brought home anything lower than a B-plus, and even then, only two of those.
When he slid his phone back into his jeans, Jackson looked over. “Everything okay? What was that about?”
Nick rubbed absently at his sternum. He hadn’t seen much of his daughter since their ill-fated day at Hinkley Farm, when she’d
had Megan take her home. Since then, she’d spent the night at Maria’s more than once.
Shit. Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t had a substantive conversation all week.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I think I fucked up. I upset Paige the other day, and it sounds like she lashed out at school.”
Jackson frowned. “Paige, lashing out? No way. She’s the sweetest kid I know.”
“Yeah. Usually. But something’s gotten to her. And I’m pretty sure it’s my fault.”
“You’re always pretty sure it’s your fault.”
Nick gave a brittle laugh. “That’s ’cause it usually is.” He stewed in his thoughts for the next few miles, then abruptly
snapped his fingers in Jackson’s face.
Jackson jerked the wheel, then corrected. “Jeez, man. You almost sent us into a ditch.”
Nick ignored him. “That’s it.”
“That’s what?”
“The thing I’m going to fight for.”
Jackson cast him a skeptical glance.
“Whatever’s bothering Paige, I’m going to fix it. I’ll go to war for her. Un-screw up whatever I screwed up. There’s your answer. That counts, right?”
Jackson sighed. “I swear. It’s like you haven’t listened to a word I’ve said.”
Nick shook his head. He had. He always listened when Jackson talked, because Jackson never said anything that wasn’t worth taking the time to say. The guy stood
head and shoulders above most people in that regard. Well, at six foot five, he stood head and shoulders above most people
in general, but especially when it came to meaningful insight.
But Nick didn’t feel like arguing, so he turned his face to the window and plotted his next moves while Henderson rolled ever
closer.
As soon as he got home, he’d find Paige. He’d coax the truth out of her, then do whatever necessary to get her feeling safe
again.
Really, he just had to figure out where he’d gone wrong.