Page 56 of The Third Girl

Lucy quickly moves around the counter, scooping up her niece. “How’s my baby girl today?”

Sailor pats her chest. “Saiwor.”

“Yep, that’s you.Sailor.”Lucy shifts her niece to her hip before looking up to meet my eyes.

“I’ll just set this on the counter for you.” I lift the diaper bag from its perch on my shoulder and walk forward, setting it down.God, this is as awkward as I thought it might be.

“Thanks.”

As I turn to leave, Lucy holds up a hand to stop me. “You never came back downstairs last night.”

I wet my lips. “I, um—” I pull in a hard breath. “I thought Matt could use some time to talk to you.”

“Is that really why you disappeared?” Her brow arches.

“I don’t think this is anything Matt would want me to discuss.”

Lucy presses her lips together, clearly frustrated. “Yeah, okay. For the record, I think this has more to do with Terri than with you. Be patient with him.”

I nod and walk out the door without a backward glance. I can’t stay another second because if I do, I will start crying. Lucy’s response isn’t what I thought it would be. And I agree with her assessment.Be patient.Yes. I am and can be patient. But the problem is that if Matt remains stuck in the past, then nothing matters.

It’s funny because when I’m with him, I can finally breathe. Everything feels right. And when we’re apart, my lungs don’t function. Nothing works right. It’s crazy how much I’ve come to need him. I wish there were a way to rewrite our story. To make things right for him so we can be together.

By the time I get to school, I’m ready for the day to be over and it hasn’t even started. I’m not late, but I’m not early either, which I almost always am. I have very limited time to set up anything for today’s lessons, and I feel like crap because of it.

I let myself into my room, noting that I have a whopping five minutes before I can expect my students to begin to arrive. Hurrying around, I pull out what we need for our hands-on math lesson, setting materials on each of my thirty students’ desks.

A throat clearing in the doorway catches my attention.

Laney stands there eyeing me as I run around much like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off. “Running behind this morning?”

I nod. “Sailor had a bad night, and she was cranky this morning until I dropped her off with Lucy. That sweet thing can turn her emotions on and off like a light switch. I don’t know what was wrong. At first I thought she was sick, but I really don’t think that’s it.”

“Could she be picking up on tension in the house?” Laney’s lips twist and she shrugs a bit. “It seems like there’s lots going on lately.”

I blow out a breath and throw up my hands. “I don’t know what to think. Honestly.”

Laney takes some of the materials from the pile, walking from desk to desk, helping me out. “So, speaking of Lucy, I got a text from her a few minutes ago. The first line was ‘Skylar Emergency,’ which scared me, but when I called, she filled me in on a few things.”

Of course she did. I expel a frustrated breath. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I shake my head, looking away.

Laney finishes setting things out, then props her butt on one of the kinder desks. “Why not? You talked to me about Matt before.”

I take several breaths, but I swear my lungs aren’t working because they’re burning in my chest. My nose stings from the force of holding tears in. “That was when I had a crush. And it’s more than that now. So much more. But—” I gather the strength to speak the truth I haven’t wanted to admit to myself. “Matt’s not ready. I’ve been there for him, I thought I’d shown him that I don’t mind that he has a past that he’s still very much in the thick of dealing with. Lucy or Kennedy can fill you in on what was said. Every time he denies what’s happening between us, it twists the knife in my heart. When we’re alone, everything is perfect. He’s the man I want. But I’m scared that if I wait for him to be ready, I might be waiting forever.”

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