The Problem with Fire - M.E. Clayton Page 0,9

this moment. “Are you okay?” The hazel eyes that she got from her father narrowed, and I wondered if I could bribe my parents, Ernest and Jillian Stewart, with monetary pay outs for the next three years to come stay with Leta while I hid in a hotel room.

In Idaho.

My father was a retired police officer and my mother was a retired elementary school teacher. If anyone could handle a temperamental teenage girl, it was them. Mom had the soothing patience that could only come from being a teacher of littles everywhere, and I was pretty sure Dad was still legally able to handcuff Leta and lock her away in a closet if Mom’s soothing patience didn’t work.

Besides, I wasn’t equipped for these emotional waves. When Thomas and I had agreed to get pregnant and raise a child, it had been with the understanding that we’d be getting through these rough teenage years together. I’d never expected to get hoodwinked by the jackass right before those rough teenage years were about to become a reality. Granted, I had never expected to get hoodwinked at all, but here we were.

And as much as I had tried to separate Thomas-the lousy husband from Thomas-the good father, Leta was clearly still lumping the two together.

“What happened this time?” I asked as she dropped her purse and backpack on the floor between two of the counter barstools. Leta had a second wardrobe and essentials at Thomas’, and so, all she needed to ever carry back and forth were her purse and school backpack.

She took a seat, and you would have thought she was sitting down to a police interrogation with how violently she had plopped her butt down on the stool. “He’s awful, Mom.”

Now, normally, I’d pick Leta up from school on my Fridays, or she’d take the bus if I was working late, but Thomas had sent me a text yesterday, asking me if it was okay for him to pick up Leta from school today and drop her off, and I had texted back that I was fine with that. Like I said, I tried to separate the husband who had left me from the father who loved his daughter. And because Leta was old enough to voice her objections and share her points of view, I hadn’t asked Thomas why he wanted to pick her up. That was between him and her.

“His latest screw is a teacher at Granger High,” she announced. “And he felt I should meet her.”

Goddamn it.

“Honey-”

“When I got to where he usually parks, Ms. Leal was standing with him, and he actually thought school was a good time and place to make introductions.”

“Okay,” I started, and did my best to soften my tone because I knew she was upset, and it was completely understandable this time. Thomas should not have blindsided her at school in front of her friends. “The first thing we’re going to do is watch the language, Leta. No matter how you feel about your father, Ms. Leal does not deserve to be referred to as his ‘latest screw’. Unless you know something about her that I don’t, show some respect.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Second, this is hardly the first woman you’ve met that your dad has dated,” I pointed out. “Was it that he introduced you at school that has you so upset?”

“Mostly,” she replied. “But…”

My brows shot up. “But, what?”

“Well, I was less than…enthused to meet her, and I didn’t try to hide it,” she admitted. But then, she’s never pretended with any of the women Thomas has brought around her.

“That’s hardly a surprise, Leta,” I told her.

“Well, I guess Dad really likes her, or else he’s had enough, because he got nasty on the way home,” she said, her voice low and hurt.

I counted to ten because if I found out that Thomas mistreated her, I was going to kill the bastard, and Dad’s retired cop status was not going to help one bit. “How?” I asked.

Her eyes looked sad and angry and just so damn troubled. She looked so much like her father, with her light brown hair and hazel eyes, it was hard to remember how much I disliked the man. “He started saying that it’s not his fault you’re not over him, and I can’t keep punishing him for that.”

My eyes almost bugged out of my head. “What?”

Leta shrugged. “He was trying to blame you for my bad attitude.”

I stood there, stunned. It never occurred to me that Thomas would