Page 20 of Welcome to Forever
“You like my dad,” Ben said quietly.
Kat whipped her head to look at the boy, who was smiling broadly at her. “No. I mean, yes. He’s nice, but—”
“But you’re marrying someone else,” he said with a heavy sigh.
They both looked down at her diamond.
“It’s complicated,” she said softly, aware that Micah was almost in front of them.
“Adults always say that.”
“Hey there, buddy.” Micah ran the back of his hand over his forehead, clearing the layer of sweat that had collected there. “You two out for a walk?”
Ben nodded. “I finished helping Miss Hadley grade papers.”
“Good. You made sure you gave yourself all As then, right?” He winked at Kat, making her belly flutter.
Her feelings about Ben’s dad were complicated, too. She wasn’t usually one who went dry in the mouth just because a hunky dad stood next to her. Of course, she didn’t know many hunky dads, and most of them were married. Or Marines, which were a breed of man she never intended to date again.
“I’ll load things up and finish over the weekend, if that’s okay?”
“Sure.” She nodded, contemplating if she needed to work over the weekend, too. Just the thought of seeing him again made her heart lift in her chest. Val was right. She needed to get more of a social life. Looking forward to the landscape guy mowing the school’s lawn was bordering pathetic.
Micah motioned for Ben to move his wheelchair forward, accidentally bumping theTransformersbook bag that hung from its handles. A loose paper fluttered to his feet. “What’s this?” He stooped to pick the wrinkled paper up and unfolded it, revealing a drawing inside.
“That’s mine!” Ben attempted to snatch it with his right arm. “Give it back. It’s mine.”
A flicker of something passed across Micah’s eyes, and his jaw hardened. “What the hell is this?”
“Dad!Pleease,” Ben begged. “It’s trash.”
Kat looked between them, and then took the paper that Micah handed her. It was a penciled sketch of a boy in a wheelchair with various mean words circling the stick-figure boy.Geek. Nerd. Loser. Dumb.“Who gave this to you, Ben?” she asked.
Ben looked like he was on the verge of tears. “No one.Idrew it.”
“Ben,” Micah warned. “That’s not your handiwork. Who gave it to you?” he asked more forcefully.
Ben looked away, his mouth tightly shut. He wasn’t going to talk.
Kat crouched down, resting her hands on the arms of Ben’s wheelchair, and lowered her voice. “Whoever drew it, they’re wrong.” She waited for him to meet her eyes. “None of those things are true. You know that, right?”
Sniffling, he nodded. “I’m definitely not dumb. I’m much smarter than your average third grader.”
This made her smile. “And you’re not a nerd, or a geek, or a loser. If you don’t want to tell us who drew that picture, you don’t have to.”
“Now wait one minute,” Micah said behind her, his voice hard-edged like it’d been earlier in the week.
Kat didn’t turn back. Instead, she continued talking to Ben. “But if you change your mind, I’d really like to talk to the person who drew that picture. A kid has to feel really bad about themselves to want to tear someone else down.”
Ben blinked. “I didn’t think about that.”
She lifted a shoulder and stood, ironing her hands over her skirt. “My office door is always open. I’m a good listener, and I happen to know that you’re a good talker.”
Ben’s contagious smile was back. “Okay.” His gaze moved to his father.
Kat hesitated before looking at Micah, too, already suspecting what she’d see in his expression—something similar to what she’d seen after she’d walked Ben to class on the first day of school—unmasked disapproval.
Not looking at her, Micah reached for the drawing in her hand and gave it another quick glance, growling under his breath. “We’ll talk at home,” he said to Ben.
