Page 51 of Best of Me

Duke: Mallory, where are you?

Duke: Please answer your phone.

Duke: Cricket, baby, please. I know I messed up, but we need to talk.

Duke: Thank you for answering the door and for letting me apologize face to face. I know my words aren’t enough. I’ll find a way to make this up to you. Swear it.

Duke: You’re so damn beautiful. I hate knowing I made you cry.

Duke: I miss you, Cricket.

Duke: You wanna know why I call you that? Text me back and I’ll tell you.

Sneaky bastard. While I’ve never outright asked, I’ve always wondered. I down the rest of my coffee and reply before I lose my nerve.

Me: Why?

His reply is instantaneous.

Duke: Did you know crickets are a sign of good luck…that they symbolize happiness?

Me: Nope, definitely didn’t know that. Also not buying that as the reasoning behind it. So…

Duke: You’re right. No BS…at first it was because you were like one…always there, chirping away, and driving me nuts.

Me: Charming…

Duke: But now, my happiness is so tied up in you, I’d do damn near anything to see you smile. I know I messed up, baby, but please let me prove to you how serious I am about us. Please?

Me: I forgive you, Duke. But I’m not sure I trust you.

Duke: I can work with that. I can def work with that.

I don’t respond to his last text; I have exactly ten minutes to get to the school and no time to waste if I want to beat the carline traffic. I do my best to push him from my mind; my kids deserve my full attention and I have fun plans for our class today.

However, a little before lunchtime, there’s a knock on my door. “Hang on, guys, let me see who’s here.” A chorus of groans and grumbles rise and I clap my hands, getting their attention. “Clap twice if you can hear me.” Only a few students clap and the door knocker knocks again. “Clap four times if you can hear me.” The entire class claps. “Thank you. Please wait patiently and I promise we will finish our story.”

This time, they stay quiet, allowing me to tend to our visitor. I’m expecting a parent joining us for lunch or another teacher, not a random police officer holding a stunning succulent garden in a sleek weathered slate pot. “Mallory Parsons?” he asks, sounding all kinds of official.

“Um, yes…sir.”

“These are for you.” He passes me the pot and I accept, not knowing what else to do. “Officer Kincaid says for me to tell you that the best is yet to come.” He pivots on the balls of his feet and heads toward the exit, leaving me with a ton of questions.The best is yet to come…what does that even mean?

I finagle the attached note out of its little holder and read it before stepping back into my classroom.

Cricket,

My life succs without you.

Succs…get it?

Yours, Duke

I’m smiling like a love-struck fool, precariously balancing my succulents as I step back into the room and pull the door shut behind me. Tatum, being the precocious child she is, immediately calls out my floral delivery. “Oooh, Ms. Mal—Parsons! Did Mr. Duke send you those?”

Until now, my knowing her parents socially has never been an issue, but the second those words leave her lips, a barrage of questions from her classmates follow.

“Who’s Mr. Duke?” “Is he your boyfriend?” “Do you love him?” “Are you gonna marry him?” “Mr. Duke and Ms. Parsons sitting in a tree…”

---