“Anyway, I’ll let you go. I know you want to get at the books. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed meeting little Alexis. I plan to see her quite a bit, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it is. She’s your granddaughter. I want the two of you to be close.”
“Good. So when you think about it, get me a picture of her, okay? I want to show it off to my buddies when they pull out pictures of their grandkids.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. ’Bye, Dad.”
Connor had to admit to himself that he was a little surprised by how enthusiastically his father had taken to his role as grandparent. Maybe Duncan had been a bit more lonely than he’d admitted since his wife had died. Connor had always figured his dad had filled his days with his work at the industrial parts manufacturing company where he’d been employed as a salesman for more than thirty years, and his evenings with the friends with whom he bowled, played cards, fished and watched sports. Apparently his father had missed the sense of family Connor’s mother had provided.
If only this development hadn’t come at such a hectic, difficult time in his own life, Connor thought, climbing out of his car. He’d like to be able to enjoy it more himself, but he was just too overwhelmed by all the stress and responsibility.
As he headed into the library, he wondered—not for the first time—if he had made a mistake trying to stay in school. Maybe he should have quit and gone back to teaching, for Alexis’s sake and his own. Maybe he shouldn’t have let Mia make so many sacrifices to help him hang on to a dream that he might have waited too late to pursue.
But because he was already here, he might as well study today, he figured, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. He would think about the future later. After the next exam, perhaps.
Mia was pacing Thursday evening, stopping every few minutes to check the time on her watch. If Connor didn’t show up soon, it was going to be too late for her to make her meeting at the school. She’d told him she had to leave by six-thirty and it was six-thirty-five now.
“I could go with you,” Alexis suggested, watching Mia check the time again. It wasn’t the first time she’d made the suggestion. She hadn’t been overly enthusiastic from the start about Mia being gone that evening. “I’d be good and I wouldn’t get in your way.”
“I know you wouldn’t, sweetie, but my meeting will probably run late. After your bedtime. And you have school in the morning.” Besides which, Connor had promised to be home in plenty of time for Mia to leave, she thought with a frown.
At six-thirty-nine, the kitchen door burst open and Connor rushed in. “I’m sorry,” he said before Mia could speak. “I let the time get away from me. Can you still make your meeting?”
“If I leave right now…”
“Go. We’ll be fine.”
She already had her purse and keys in hand. She leaned down to kiss Alexis’s cheek. “Go to bed when your dad tells you to, okay? I’ll see you in the morning.”
Alexis clung to the hem of Mia’s jacket. “Will you come in to tell me good night if I’m still awake?”
“I’ll check on you,” she promised. “But try to go to sleep. You don’t want to be too tired for school in the morning.”
“Go on, Mia. And drive carefully,” Connor added.
She nodded and carefully disentangled Alexis’s fingers from her jacket. “Good night,” she said again, rushing out before the child’s sad eyes made her change her mind.
She was only a few minutes late for the meeting. Natalie had saved a seat for her. She slipped into it, grateful that the meeting seemed to be a little late getting started. “Did I miss anything?”
“No, not yet. What kept you?”
Stashing her purse beneath her chair, Mia shrugged. “Connor was a little late getting home. I was beginning to think I’d have to bring Alexis with me.”
“Hmm.”
Mia frowned at the increasingly familiar note of disapproval in her friend’s brief response. “He made it in time.”
“Barely. You’re still breathing hard from running in.”
Deliberately steadying her breathing, Mia shook her head. “I made it. That’s all that counts.”
“Until the next time he puts his own work ahead of yours,” Natalie muttered. “Don’t let him take you for granted, Mia. At least chew him out for almost making you late tonight, so he’ll think twice about being late next time.”
Fortunately the school principal stood then to begin the meeting. Mia made a point of directing her attention that way, putting an end to her conversation with Natalie.
It was after nine when she walked back into the house that evening. Wearily setting her keys on the counter, she immediately put the kettle on the stove. She needed a hot cup of herbal tea to help her relax before bed.
Connor spoke from the kitchen doorway. “How was the meeting?”