Page 5 of Welcome to Forever
Chapter 2
Kat studied the parent standing in her office. He had a deep frown creasing the skin between his dark eyes. There was also something vaguely familiar about him. Maybe they’d met at parent orientation last week. “What can I help you with?” she asked, taking a seat behind her desk, and gesturing for him to sit across from her.
Bracing his hands on his hips, he didn’t budge. “You walked my son to his class this morning,” he said, his voice edged with slight irritation. “He dropped his lunchbox, and you picked it up and carried it for him.”
She nodded, flashing her best principal smile—the one that was supposed to exude confidence and put parents at ease. “Yes. Ben. I did walk with him this morning. He’s new here and I wanted to get to know him.”
“You should’ve let him do it alone,” he said in such a way that her spine straightened. “He’s in a wheelchair, but he’s capable. I don’t want him to be defined by his disability here. If you treat him that way, everyone else will, too.”
Sucking in a breath, she suddenly felt like she was a student visiting the principal’s office. “Mr….?”
“Peterson.”
Nodding, she spoke slowly, calmly. This was the first upset parent to walk into her office this year, but he wouldn’t be the last. Talking parents down from their fear-and-worry-ridden ledges was an unwritten part of her job. “Mr. Peterson. I assure you, I was only getting to know your son.”
“And that’s nice of you, Principal Chandler, but don’t treat Ben different from the other students,” he said, his voice as abrasive as the look he was giving her. While he was handsome, she didn’t appreciate what he was insinuating. “I don’t want my son to suffer because he’s in a wheelchair and you feel bad. That’s your weakness, not his.”
“Weakness?” She took a deep breath, then bit the inside of her cheek, focusing her energy there. This parent was doing more than insinuating; he wanted a fight, and she wasn’t going to give it to him.Thatwas his weakness, not hers. “Your son didn’t seem to mind that I was walking with him this morning.”
“Of course not. But walking with the principal doesn’t exactly help him make friends, does it?”
Seriously?It was hard for parents to let go. She got that. Harder for some than others, but this dad needed to back off.
“I understand what you’re saying, Mr. Peterson,” she said, continuing to keep her calm, cool demeanor, “but I assure you that I did not treat your son any differently than I would any other student on this campus.”
“You walk every child to class?” he asked, obviously biting back his temper.
“If they ask me to, and I have the time, then yes, I do. Especially the new students. It’s easy to get lost if you don’t know our school’s layout.”
“Ask you?” His face was expressionless, but there was a definite emotion firing in those dark eyes of his, and it wasn’t anger, despite his stiff posture. “He asked you to walk him to class?” he clarified.
“And carry his books. He said he didn’t want to risk dropping them again.”
Running a hand through his short, buzz-cut hair, the father surprised her by laughing. It wasn’t the kind of laugh that would’ve put her at ease, though. More of a laugh of someone who was so frustrated, they had no idea what to do. “Figures.” He glanced down as his cellphone rang in his pocket, drawing her attention to his fitted blue jeans.
She’d seen those hips before. And the V-shaped torso opening up to a broad pair of drool-worthy shoulders. Her gaze jumped up, and—oh, damn.She’d also seen those dark brown eyes.For the love of chocolate.Why hadn’t she recognized him immediately? “Micah Peterson?”
He didn’t blink. “Good morning again,” he said, true amusement lacing his voice this time.
A gasp caught in her throat. “I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you. You had on a hat earlier and a different shirt.” As if the hat and clean shirt were a disguise.
“It seems to me you had on a different shirt, too.” He gestured to the fresh blouse she was wearing, free of spray paint unlike this morning’s.
“I’ve learned to always have a spare, just in case. In this profession, it’s necessary…So, Ben is the son you were talking about this morning?”Again,duh.Had her brain overheated from the image of Micah’s lower half?
“Listen, I’m not trying to be a hard-ass,” he said.
Hard ass? Yep. Very hard.Swallowing, she pulled her mind out of the gutter and straightened. She was a professional, she reminded herself. No drooling over the hot, completely irrational parent.
“First day of school nerves. We all have them,” she said. “And you’re just looking out for your son. I respect that.”
“Right.” He nodded as his defensive posture relaxed just a little. “He didn’t have many friends at his old school. And it’s not easy when the other kids are running around and riding their bikes. Ben will never do any of that. To make matters worse, he sometimes puts up a fight about doing the stuff he is capable of.”
Maybe not so irrational.A parent who wanted to do right by their child always squeezed at her heart.
“Don’t worry about Ben, Mr. Peterson. Seaside is a great school, and I’m sure he’ll fit right in.”
His cellphone rang again and this time she averted her gaze to look somewhere less mind-blowing, like at her secretary, Val, who was nosily watching them from her desk.Great.
