The Boy Who Has No Belief - Victoria Quinn Page 0,52
person they are isn’t finite. It’s just who they are at that moment in time…as a twelve-year-old.”
I loved it when he said stuff like that, when he disproved negativity with profound logic. “Anyway, you’re the only thing that’s gotten her out of that rut. I’ve never cared what she’ll decide to do for a living, but it’s always bothered me that she won’t allow herself to be passionate about anything because she’s afraid she’s too stupid to accomplish anything. So, she pretends it doesn’t matter to her…when it does. Now, she believes in herself—and that’s because of you.”
He stared at me like he didn’t know what to say.
“I knew you were going to be great with Lizzie, but I had no idea how much you would benefit her life.”
He closed his eyes like he couldn’t accept my compliment. He opened them again when he spoke. “Baby, I taught her a couple things and instilled this sense of inspiration, but you’re the one who takes care of her every single day. Don’t paint me as the hero, when you’re the one who does the heavy lifting. Maybe I inspired her today, but I’m sure you would have inspired her later.”
I still couldn’t believe this man was mine. All mine. “I think you deserve more credit than that, Derek. But I appreciate what you said. I appreciate you going into that classroom and telling off Mr. Franklin for being a dick to my daughter.”
“I’m sure you would have handled it on your own, baby. I overstepped my boundaries, and I know it.”
“No. You protected someone you care about, and that wasn’t a logical decision, but an emotional one. It’s like when I go into mama bear mode. You protected your student because you care. You did not overstep your boundaries, Derek. And honestly, I could have told off that teacher, but it would have gone much differently. I would have accomplished nothing except make him pick on my daughter more.” My hands rubbed over his hard chest, and I leaned in and kissed him. “I just wanted you to know how much that meant to me.” I wanted to say more, but I didn’t. I wanted to tell him I wanted it to be the three of us someday, that I could already picture him being the man in her life that she needed, that we could be a family, that I was so hopelessly in love with him that I would never love another man as long as I lived. But instead, I kissed him again and kept it locked deep inside, hoping I would be able to say those things someday.
13
Derek
“You yelled at a teacher?” Dad sat behind his desk with his lunch in front of him. It was a salmon salad with nuts, berries, and chunks of avocado.
I sat in one of the armchairs and ate the same thing, since that was what was on the menu. My compound wasn’t too far from his on the outskirts of the city, so I could have stopped by and had lunch with him before…but I never made the time to do it. “Yeah.”
He grinned and looked down at his food. “Sounds like he deserved it.”
“The guy’s a piece of shit.” I got a blueberry on my fork and placed it in my mouth. “The guy didn’t even give her partial credit for getting the right answer and marked all over her work on her assignment because it wasn’t the way he taught it. He failed her for doing it in a different way than he demonstrated, which is so fucking narcissistic, and then he accused her of cheating. How stupid does he think she is? All he had to do was talk to her after class and question her about it. She would have said her tutor is teaching her in an alternate way, and it’s easier for her to understand. And that’s it, conversation over. But no, he decided to take the route of destroying a twelve-year-old girl…” How small of a man do you have to be to be threatened by a twelve-year-old? “Fucking bullshit, man.”
“You had a few teachers like that. Remember that professor at Harvard?”
I rolled my eyes.
“After you corrected his errors, he had it out for you for the rest of the semester.”
“Yeah, I remember.” I continued to eat. “The basis of being a teacher is to make your students be the best they can be. But they can’t be better than you? That’s where you