Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,47

were having this conversation, and he immediately started making plans to backup and approach the school from a different angle.

"Well, I went to high school with your mom, and Mister Drew wasn't even around back then, sooo…" The woman's tone was calm and reasonable, but her words were so passive aggressive that Drew's blood began to boil. His temper didn't go through a slow simmer first, he went straight to irate. He stood there, motionless, waiting to hear what Mac would say, how he would respond to her. "Did your mom tell you Mister Drew was your dad?" she continued when Mac didn't say anything.

"She said if God wants him to be my dad, he will. And God does want him to be it, so he is," Mac said.

"Oh, I see," the woman said. "So, she didn't actually say he was your dad. I was wondering because… "

She trailed off. Her tone was full of sarcasm that, thank goodness, Mac could never understand. Drew waited there for a few seconds to hear if Mac would respond. What was he even supposed to say to that? Poor little man. Drew wondered what was going through his head.

He was about to step around the corner, but then they would have known that he heard them. He wanted to walk out there right then and stop her from saying anything else, but he decided to be patient and back off so that he could go around.

Children were being loud all around them, and Drew easily stepped behind the bushes and away from the doorway. It only took him a few seconds to find the other end of the sidewalk where he could approach the entrance from a different angle. He waited until they weren't looking and he came around the corner pretending to be surprised when they glanced his way, like he had just caught sight of them.

Drew was angry, but he smiled, acting like it was any other day and he had heard nothing. He held his shoulders back and kept his chin up, walking tall, exuding confidence. He could see the teacher react to him. She straightened her posture and ran her hand through her hair.

She wasn't as pretty as Lucy—not even close. Lucy would blow her out of the water in a beauty pageant. Drew realized that his thoughts were mean, but he was protective, and this woman was on his bad list after the way she talked to Mac.

"Hello," the teacher said when they made eye contact.

Drew walked up to her smiling and with his hand extended like he wanted to shake her hand. "Hello, I'm Drew Klein, Mac's dad. Have we met?"

"Oh, yes, I'm Natalie Harris. I'm Mac's teacher's assistant."

Drew reached down and picked up Mac, resting him comfortably on his forearm and balancing him up high, near his chest. Mac didn't always want to be held. He was a busy boy who was prone to want to walk on his own and break out into a sprint when he deemed necessary, which was a lot. He was kind, but he was independent and curious and not lacking energy.

Right then, in that moment, though, he was still as a rock, clinging to Drew. He made himself easy to hold, light in Drew's arms.

"He had a good day today," the teacher said.

"Okay, great," Drew said.

He wanted to say more about being Mac's dad. But all he could think of at the moment was something like, "Are you ready to go with dad?" and that seemed forced and unnecessary.

He looked at Mac. "You ready?"

Mac nodded, holding still.

"Thanks," Drew said, looking at the teacher. He gave her a casual nod and smile before turning to walk away.

That walk on the way to Drew's truck was one of those rare times when Mac did not ask to get down and walk by himself. Drew had been getting to know Mac for months, and there had only been a few times when he let him hold him for an extended walk like this. All of the other times, it was because it was crowded where they were walking or some other extenuating circumstance like it being late and Mac being exhausted.

It wasn't that big of a deal that a child at his age was allowing himself to be held, but it was a big deal because that child was Mac and he never did this. Drew knew it was a picture of Mac's thankfulness even though Mac didn't say a word about it.

"That