Page 171 of Mr. Infuriating

I loved that he’d gotten ready for his tutoring session without any prompting from me.

And I loved that his tutor was finally here.

“How are your mom and dad?” I asked.

“They’re great. They love being retired. My dad has time to putz around and my mom goes to Zumba five days a week. She’s in better shape than I am! She says she needs to be able to keep up with her grandkids, so it’s worth it.”

“How many grandkids does she have?”

“Well, justJake for now.”

She left theuntil I have morepart unspoken.

“My parents are in Florida, so Britt and Brayden don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. But Mav flies down a lot to see them and his son Nash, who’s in the Navy in Pensacola, and he says the same thing about them. Mom goes to exercise classes daily at the rec center in their retirement community, and Dad tinkers around the house.”

“Must be part of the retirement handbook.”

I laughed. “Must be.”

I wanted to ask her if she’d slept as shitty as I had. If she’d felt as lonely as I had, but I opted to go with, “I’m glad you made it back safe,” as I touched her elbow.

“Thanks. It’s really not a bad drive.”

In case she had any ideas about staying there this week, I countered with, “Probably not on the weekend, but I’ve been caught in that morning commute traffic. Not fun.”

“I think we’re just spoiled, living in Lancastle.”

“That’s true.”

We stared at each other for a beat, as if neither of us knew what to say next.

I did not like this awkward feeling between us one bit.

She looked at my son, still on the couch with his open textbook, and clapped her hands together.

“Whaddya say we move to the dining room table, Brayden?”

I guess I was dismissed.

****

Gretchen

Things between Gabe and me returned to normal once we got to the bowling alley.

I almost intervened when Jake insisted “Bandit” help him find his bowling ball but relented. It was too late to keep Jake from adoring Gabe—it’d already happened.

I knew the feeling.

Halfway through our first game, Brittany, Brayden, and I were cheering on Jake as he pushed his ball down the lane with the bumpers up while Gabe stood close by, when a young woman approached me holding a chubby little girl with a big, pink bow on her head.

It took me a second, but I finally recognized her as one of my former students from my first teaching gig.

“Michelle?”

“Hi, Mrs. Wainwright.”

“Oh my goodness! You’re all grown up!” I offered the baby my fingers, which she dutifully grasped in her fist. “And who is this little cutie?”

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