Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,14
me a quick hug. “Hey, honey.”
Connor doesn’t even acknowledge my presence when he sees the plate of food in front of him. He’s a picky eater, but the stuff he will eat he scarfs down like he’s just as starved as my stomach sounded a few minutes ago.
While we eat, mom asks about the students I’ll have in my class this year and I try to keep my explanations vague when I mention Evie. Mom doesn’t know about Mitchell or what happened last year. I’m not sure why I didn’t tell her, because I usually tell her everything, but I kept all of that drama to myself. She’s never going to meet him, so it wouldn’t have mattered.
Even my mind doesn’t believe me when I say there won’t be a meeting between Mitchell and my family. The man needs to get the hell out of my head. I’ve already spent so many months mourning what wasn’t meant to be and I’ve moved on from thinking about him in any way. Why did he have to show back up now?
Thankfully, mom doesn’t ask any deep questions about my kids. She’s pretty familiar with the school though because she was the librarian there for many years. In fact, she’s the reason I got the job teaching there. Mom and the principal are good friends, and I know she hired me as a favor to mom. It got my foot in the door so I’m not complaining. I’m going to do everything I can to show them both hiring me was a good decision.
Once we’re finished eating and mom has packed up the leftovers for me to take home it’s time for us to go. Connor’s bedtime is soon and he still needs a bath and some time to chill out. Plus, I want to spend time with just him. He’s been here all day and I’m sure my mom needs a break, even if she’ll never say it. She’s been a godsend since I moved back, keeping Connor until I could find a daycare I was comfortable leaving him at and letting us stay here much longer than I originally planned.
We’ve only been in our new apartment for two weeks. I wanted to move into my own place with enough time to get Connor acclimated before the school year started and things change for him again. He doesn’t do well with change and he’s had so much of it in the past two years.
“Are you sure you don’t want to just spend the night here?”
Mom’s voice is full of concern and I almost relent just to make her feel better. “No, that’s okay. Connor needs to get used to sleeping at our place instead of yours before preschool starts next week.” And I need time alone so I can think about ways to avoid the “conversation” Mitchell wants to have. There can’t possibly be anything he can say I’ll want to hear.
“Okay.” Mom doesn’t sound very sure about my decision, but that’s because she’ll always see me as the little girl running after her brother and coming home with her knees all skinned up instead of a woman who knows her own thoughts and feelings.
Connor chatters all the way across town to our apartment and doesn’t stop until we’re in the living room and he’s been told to get his bath stuff together. He loves playing with toys in the tub still, and he knows if he forgets something he’ll be out of luck.
I let him spend more time in the bath than I normally would, loving the sound of him enjoying himself, and we watch two episodes of his favorite show before he finally starts yawning and rubbing his sleepy eyes.
The minute he’s in bed and asleep I head for the kitchen and pour the biggest glass of wine I can find before opening my phone to my text app and sending a message to my best friend Riley.
Me: You’ll never guess who I saw at school tonight
Riley: Who???
Me: Mitchell
Not even five minutes go by before there’s a loud knock on my door. She doesn’t stop banging on it until I pull it open and glare. “Are you trying to wake up Connor?”
“Sorry.” She doesn’t sound it all when she breezes past me straight into the kitchen to grab her own full glass of wine. She makes herself comfortable on the couch and waits for me to do the same before she starts her interrogation. “Where did you see him?”
I tell