the only parent he knows. Go home. Sleep it off. Come back and get him in the morning.”
I walk back to my house. I don’t mean to slam the door, but I do, and it startles Elijah. He begins to cry. Clara is seated on the couch with him, so I take him out of her arms so she can get back to bed.
“What’s wrong with Jonah?” she asks. “He seemed angry.”
I play it down as much as I can, even though I know I’m a terrible liar. “He’s just exhausted. I offered to keep Elijah for the night to give him a break.”
Clara stares at me for a moment. She knows I’m lying, but she doesn’t press me. She does roll her eyes when she passes me, though.
When she’s back in her room, I take Elijah to my bedroom and sit down on the bed, holding him. He’s wide awake now, but he’s no longer crying.
He’s smiling.
And Jonah is right. When he smiles, there’s a deep dimple that forms in the center of his chin.
He looks exactly like Chris.
CHAPTER TEN
CLARA
Everyone thought Jonah would be back teaching his classes on Monday, but he wasn’t. Mom said Jonah would pick up Elijah on Monday, but it’s Wednesday now, and he didn’t.
I don’t know what’s going on because my mother won’t tell me anything, so when Lexie comes to my locker after last period and says, “What’s going on with Uncle Teacher?” I have no idea what to say.
I close my locker and shrug. “I don’t know. I think he’s having a breakdown. He dropped Elijah off with us Sunday night, and all I heard him say before he stormed out of the house was, ‘I can’t do this. I’m sorry.’”
“Shit. So your mom still has Elijah?” The way Lexie is chewing her gum makes it seem like we’re chatting about going to the mall rather than Jonah possibly abandoning his infant son.
“Yep.”
Lexie leans against the locker next to me. “That’s not good.”
“It’s fine. He’ll probably pick him up today. I think he just needed to catch up on sleep.”
Lexie can tell I’m making excuses. She shrugs and pops a bubble with her gum. “Yeah, maybe. But fair warning. My dad has been ‘catching up on sleep’ for thirteen years.”
I humor her with a laugh, but Jonah is nothing like Lexie’s dad. Not that I’ve ever met her biological father. But Jonah would never do something like that to Elijah.
“My mother said it was the day after Christmas when he stormed out of the house and yelled, ‘I’m done!’ He never came back.” She pops another bubble. “If there’s one thing my dad is good at, it’s being done. He’s been ‘being done’ for thirteen years.” She suddenly clamps her mouth shut and looks over my shoulder. She’s focused on something else now. Or someone else.
I turn around and see Miller heading this direction. His eyes land on mine, and for a substantial three seconds, he holds my stare. His entire focus is on me so hard he has to crane his neck a little as he passes us before he looks away almost forcefully.
We haven’t spoken since that night over text. I like that he’s not pursuing me, but I also hate it. I want him to be a good human, but I’d also very much like it if he didn’t care so much about his current relationship.
Lexie whistles out a breath. “I felt that.”
I roll my eyes. “No, you didn’t.”
“I did. That look he gave you . . . it was like . . .”
“Back to Jonah,” I say, pushing off my locker. “He’s a good dad. He just needed a break.”
“Fifty bucks says he doesn’t come back.” Lexie follows me toward the exit to the parking lot.
“Back to where?” I ask. “To school? Or to Elijah?”
“Both. Didn’t he only move here because Jenny was pregnant? He probably had a life outside of this town that he’d love to get back to. Start over. Pretend the past year never happened.”
“You’re terrible.”
“No. Men are terrible. Dads are the most terrible,” she says.
My shoulders shrink a little at her comment. I sigh, thinking about my father. “Mine wasn’t. He was the greatest.”
Lexie pauses her steps. “Clara, I’m so sorry. I’m a dumbass.”
I step back and grab her hand, pulling her forward with me. “It’s fine. But you’re wrong about Jonah. He’s like my dad. He’s one of the good ones. He loves Elijah too much to just up and abandon him like