Page 59 of Savage in the Sweets
Her phone buzzes, and she pulls it from her purse, her eyes narrowing when she sees who it is.
“That’s strange. It’s Principal Bailey,” she says. “She never calls me.”
She chirps “Hello,” into the phone, and I watch as her face contorts from happy, to confused, to worried, to angry.
My stomach twists as a feeling of impending doom envelops me.
“You can’t be serious!” Lacy cries frantically into the phone. “I’ve worked with you guys for years, and before that, my parents did! I volunteer more than most parents. I—”
Her shoulders slump, and a gush of tears fall down her cheeks.
This is my fault. I did this to her.
She presses end, her face tilted downward, looking at the table.
“Are you okay?” I ask stupidly.
“No. I’m not okay.”
“What happened?”
“Some parents threw a fit that I was going to be at the board meeting today and demanded I not be allowed back on campus.”
“Oh, God—I’m so sorry.”
“I make at least thirty percent of my profit from Wilson’s Grove Elementary. I can’t afford to operate my business without them.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to—”
Her eyes dart to mine, and I know there are no words I can say to make this right.
“You’ve already done enough.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That shop is all I have left of my parents.”
“I’ll help keep you afloat until we can figure out how—”
“You just expanded your business. You have loans and commitments. You can’t keep my shop ‘afloat’.”
She’s right, though I wish she weren’t.
Exhaling heavily, she gets up from her seat, but before walking away, she says, “Michael is welcome to come hang out with me and April. I don’t want him to know there’s any bad blood between us. He’s also welcome to hang out with me at the shop while I still have it.”
Coils of dread threaten to consume me. I’m so used to being known as a good guy that realizing I’m a true villain in Lacy’s life guts me. And now, Michael’s going to have to pay the price for what I’ve done.
I deserve both their hatred.
She turns, leaving me at the table with her half-eaten tacos. Ten minutes ago, I was talking about wedding rings, and now, I’ve hurt the one woman I’ve let into my life—into Michael’s life.
And there’s nothing I can do to make it better.
Colin
Three MonthsLater
A loud knock sounds on the door to my office.
