CHAPTER EIGHT #3
“I’m glad to hear. Is your sister doing all right? I know sometimes kids can have delayed reactions to extreme circumstances, and Orla seemed fine today. But now that I know she’d witnessed such an ordeal, I’ll keep an eye out for any signs of distress.”
“That would be greatly appreciated,” he said softly.
“Cassidy will be dropping by the school sometime this week to talk to the administration. She wants to remove Patrick’s contact information from the school’s registry, in the event they can’t get through to her, and instead call him.
She’s also taking his name off the approved list of persons who are allowed contact with Orla while she’s on school grounds, and adding mine in its place.
” He smiled then. “So, I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other after all. ”
I matched his bright smile with one of my own. “I actually don’t mind. I kind of like your face.”
“I kind of like your everything,” he retorted, taking a sip of his brandy, his eyes glued to mine over the rim of his glass.
My face warmed with anticipation and lust. Then the implications of what he’d just said about Orla’s dad and the school finally registered.
“Wait,” I said abruptly. “Does that mean Orla’s father isn’t allowed to pick her up from school anymore?
Is he a danger to her? I mean, of course, he is.
He shook a helpless baby, for Christ’s sake…
I guess what I’m asking is, are the police involved?
Should the school be on the lookout if her father shows up?
” I was extremely protective of my students.
They were my little ones. They spent the majority of their days with me, and for some, I was the only reliable and safe adult in their lives.
Which was an endeavor that came with being an early childhood educator.
Not all students had a loving home with loving parents to take care of them, and school was where they got some reprieve.
I knew what I was signing up for when I became a teacher.
And no child would come to harm under my care. I’d die before I let that happen.
Declan sighed. “Honestly, darling. I don’t know.
I told Cassidy to make a report at the police station, but she insists on handling things her own way.
Whatever that means. All I know is, I’m on drop-off duties for the foreseeable future.
And on the rare occasion when she’s busy, she’ll ask me to do pick up in the evenings as well. ”
“Are she and the kids still staying with you?”
“No. I wanted them to. I wanted them to stay where I could see they were safe. But Cassidy insisted on going back home. She said routine was important for the kids, and she didn’t want to disrupt that.
Though they did stay with me for a week before moving back home.
As for her soon-to-be ex, I went looking for him the night I got home from the hospital with Cassidy and the kids.
But he’d packed his things and fled. There’s been no sign of him since.
I even inquired at his job, but was told he quit, and none of his coworkers have heard from him since. ”
I grimaced. “That’s… scary.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “But since Cassidy refuses to move in with me, I changed her locks, installed a bunch of cameras both inside and outside of her home, as well as upgraded her security system, and made her switch to an entirely different security company. That bastard is getting nowhere near them again.”
His words tugged at my heartstrings, making me feel all warm and gooey inside. Perhaps it was the calm and steady protectiveness in his tone, or simply his willingness to drop everything and be there for his family, rearranging his whole life to ensure they were safe and protected.
Then my thoughts settled, and I found that I wanted that for myself, too. More importantly, I wanted it from Declan. No one else would do.
Christ, could I really do this? Could I hope for something more with Declan, or was my baggage too much?
I was still married, for fuck’s sake. Even though I was miserable.
And while Declan could potentially be a great boyfriend, I still needed the security that came with being married to Seth.
I needed his health benefits. I wouldn’t survive otherwise.
I needed my medication to be able to function, and having a husband and his health insurance, so far, guaranteed that.
Declan would be a lover. He wouldn’t be responsible for me like Seth was.
He wasn’t obligated to take care of me in that way.
Which meant I needed to find a way to cover my health insurance on my own. Hence, the reason I wanted to kick-start my writing career; only for Seth’s selfishness to curtail the progress.
I’d come up with another plan. I had to.
Perhaps I could stay late after school ended and work on my manuscript there. I already had a publisher interested in the story idea I’d pitched to them. I just needed to turn in an actual manuscript in the next six months.
I could do it. I would do it. Because I wanted to see where this thing between Declan and me went.
I just hoped he wanted that, too.