Page 4 of Welcome to Forever
His excitement jerked his body around like a marionette and the lunchbox on his lap toppled to the ground and opened with a loud crash that made Micah flinch. Watching as the scene unfolded in slow motion, he did his best not to run up to his son and grab the falling items as they rolled toward the other students. That’s what he wanted to do, but it wouldn’t help anything.
His jaw tightened as he watched Principal Chandler kneel down in those ridiculous heels that made her legs, and other assets, look delicious. She began reaching for Ben’s sandwich and apple, tossing them quickly in his box and closing it. She didn’t hand it back to him, which is exactly what Micah would’ve done. Instead, she carried Ben’s lunchbox, grabbed the books he’d also had in his lap, and walked with him inside.
Seeing that she didn’t reappear, Micah guessed she then proceeded to walk with him to class.
He ran a quick hand through his hair. How the hell was Ben supposed to make his own way at this school with his principal escorting him around the building? If only she hadn’t waved, not that he could blame her for the friendly gesture. Ignoring Ben would have been worse.
Realizing he was still standing at the edge of the parking lot, and probably looking like a crazy person, Micah decided to turn around and head to work. His squadron was waiting. Instead, his feet started to move forward, heading toward the school. As he veered into the front office on his right, the young secretary glanced up.
“May I help you?”
“I’m a new parent here and I want a quick word with the principal,” he said, crossing his arms and not budging toward the row of seats behind him. There was no time to wait. He just needed to make sure Kat Chandler knew how to treat his son because there was no way he was going to let Ben have another bad school year.
The woman looked down at an appointment book on her desk. “Um, okay. I’ll just see if—”
They both turned as Kat stepped into the office, slightly out of breath. “I just ran into Stanley. The graffiti will be gone by afternoon pickup.” She braced her hands on her hips, where his own hands had rested earlier this morning, looking slightly stressed and absolutely beautiful.
Clearing her throat, the secretary jerked her head in his direction. “You have a visitor.”
“Oh. Good morning,” Kat said, noticing him now. “I’m Kat Chandler, the school’s principal.” She held out a hand for him to shake as she smiled warmly.
Taking it, he waited for her to recognize him. She didn’t. But he’d been wearing a ball cap this morning, and coated in sweat.Good.He’d prefer not to lose the first big landscaping job he’d scored in Seaside over this—not that he was going to cause a scene. He just wanted to make sure his son had a great year at SES. Ben was perfectly able to be an independent kid, and part of the reason for that was because he let him carry his own damn lunchbox.
Micah’s jaw clenched at the memory of last year. He wasn’t going to tell the pretty principal how to do her job—okay, maybe he was—but for Ben, he’d do anything.
