someone had faked the parental approval. And that someone was most likely Hunter.
Disappointment joined confusion. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was going to have to figure it out.
“Sorry for sounding so distracted,” she said, doing her best to fake a casual tone. “I’m in a meeting. May I call you back later?”
“Of course.” Camilla gave her a direct number and hung up.
Wynn turned to her computer and typed Junior ROTC into the search engine. Seconds later she was on the website and learning that JROTC was, in fact, a real thing. From what she could tell, it was a leadership program that was very successful. She’d heard of ROTC at the college level but not anything in junior high or high school. But when she checked the local area, his school was listed as having a program. All of which was interesting, but didn’t change the fact that Hunter had gone behind her back to apply. He hadn’t bothered talking to her at all—he’d just done it.
What had he been thinking? Did he really believe he could get into an ROTC program without her knowing? Even more to the point, why hadn’t he said anything to her? They talked about everything—or she had thought they did. Now she wasn’t sure about anything where he was concerned.
She got to her feet and circled her desk. Her stomach hurt, and her head was spinning with questions and thoughts. This wasn’t her kid. Hunter didn’t act like this. When he wanted to do something, he asked and they talked about it. She wasn’t unreasonable. Why had he done this and what was she supposed to do now?
She picked up her phone to text one of her friends, only she didn’t know if any of them would have the kind of advice she needed. After hesitating a few seconds, she texted Garrick.
I have a kid problem I need to talk about. You have any free time today?
It took only a minute for him to answer. I could grab a coffee right now if that works.
It does. Thanks.
They settled on a place. Wynn took her handbag from the drawer in her desk, told her office manager she would be gone for about an hour, then drove into the center of town where she parked and walked to the coffee shop by the river.
She ordered two lattes and carried them to a table in the corner. For once the view of the Rio de los Suenos didn’t make her happy, nor did she appreciate the beauty of the day or the little Santa on the table.
Two minutes later Garrick walked in. He spotted her and headed for the table. Under normal circumstances, she would have appreciated seeing him looking all manly in his uniform, but even that wasn’t enough to distract her.
“I got you a latte,” she said. “I hope that’s okay. Or do you only drink black coffee?”
He sat across from her and picked up the drink. “I enjoy a latte from time to time. Thanks for getting it for me. What’s going on?”
“It’s Hunter.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “I kind of assumed that, with him being your only child.”
She tried to smile back at him, but couldn’t, then explained about the unexpected phone call.
“I went online,” she said. “Junior ROTC really exists.”
“Sure. They’re at the high school. Ninth graders in junior high can also join the last semester before they graduate.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know about all the extracurricular activities going on at both the high school and junior high. I know which ones make my day easier and which ones don’t.”
Interesting, but Garrick being good at his job wasn’t something she could care about right now.
“He lied to me,” she said, doing her best to stay in her head. If she gave in to her emotions, she would end up losing control. Later, when she’d figured out what to do, she would cry and scream and throw things, just not now.
“He lied to me,” she repeated. “He doesn’t do that.” She held up a hand. “I’m not saying he never lies—of course he does. He messes up. He can be lazy and forgetful. He’s a normal person. But this is different. It’s out of character for him, and I don’t know why he did it. Why didn’t he talk to me in the first place?”
She looked at Garrick. “He never mentioned the JROTC thing at all. I had no idea he was thinking about it.