Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 35
It had to work. Already, I felt like I was stretched tight like a guitar string, and every day the string got tighter. Much tighter and I would snap. So it had to work. That was all there was to it.
Chapter Twelve
After almost jumping out of bed early Monday morning, I made coffee and then finished my reading assignment for tomorrow night’s history class before rousting Sarah and Devon out of bed. Today was the first day Sarah would be back to school since her suspension, so, since I didn’t have to be at work until nine, I planned to stop by the counselor’s office at the middle school to let him know about Sarah’s psychologist.
“Are you ready to go back to school?” I asked Sarah as she nibbled on a piece of toast.
“I guess.”
Letting out a slow breath, I decided to be okay with that answer. At least she wasn’t actively resisting the return.
After dropping Devon off at the elementary school, I parked at the middle school. My daughter acted upset that I was walking with her in the first place, but I told her I had to stop inside. “Just promise me today will be a good day, and I’ll never have to do this again.”
“Right, mom.” I had no fucking idea what she meant, but I wasn’t about to grill her here. The last thing I wanted to do was further embarrass my daughter in a place where that sort of thing had probably already happened.
I watched as my child took a left at the end of the main entryway and disappeared out of sight. Only then did I turn to my right to rap on the counselor’s door. I didn’t have an appointment, so I hoped it was okay. After touching the door, I noticed it was open a crack, so I peeked my head in. The counselor had been looking at his computer screen but moved his eyes to me when I looked in.
“Hi.” He stood and extended his hand. “Sarah’s mother, right?”
That was promising. “Yes. Please call me Randi.”
“Only if you call me Kevin. Please have a seat.” Once I shook his hand and took his suggestion, he also sat back down. “So Sarah’s back in school today. What can I do for you?”
“I thought I’d keep you folks up to date. Sarah had her first psychology appointment on Thursday with Dr. Rebecca Hopkins.”
“She’s supposed to be good with kids.”
“I’m glad to hear that. She was highly recommended by the pediatrician. Anyway, Sarah had an, um…episode yesterday.”
“What happened?”
“She was at church with her grandparents yesterday and apparently started cursing and saying she doesn’t believe in God.”
“What did they do?”
“They were pretty shocked. Needless to say, they left church early.”
“I can’t blame them. What did Sarah say about it afterward?”
“When I talked to her, she said she doesn’t believe in God. I told her that was fine but what she did was inappropriate. She needs to respect other people’s beliefs.”
“That sounds like a good answer.”
“I don’t know. I’m doubting myself. I just don’t know what else I can do. I was hoping maybe you’d have some suggestions since you deal with this kind of thing all the time.”
As Kevin adjusted his glasses, he gazed at me through piercing blue eyes—and, for a second, I almost forgot what I was there for. “I have to tell you, Randi, I actually don’t deal with this kind of thing very often. Usually, I’m just dealing with typical prepubescent behavior—you know, name calling, some kissing in the hallway, girls wearing too much makeup, boys writing things in the bathroom stalls, a few fights on the playground, some cursing. Once in a while, things get a little more serious—some pot, a little alcohol. But I’ve only been doing this for a few years. Most times I feel like I’m still new at this. I’m learning as I go.”
“Oh.”
“But I’m willing to learn. I want you to know I’ve taken a look at Sarah’s records from elementary school, and they indicate she’s very bright. Whatever’s going on with her isn’t just her problem—it belongs to all of us. We need to help her. I’m dedicated to that.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Then he cleared his throat, shifting in his chair. “I’d like to take you out for a cup of coffee so we can talk more about it. If, uh, you’d like.”
Honestly, I needed all the help I could get, especially not knowing how long it would take the psychologist to get to the bottom of things. “That sounds great—but I can’t today. I have to be at work in a little bit.”
“When are you free? I mean, we can definitely talk about it here, too, but we wouldn’t have interruptions somewhere else, no kids poking their heads in, you know, that kind of thing. More privacy.”
“Of course. Uh…so far, Wednesday morning’s good.”
So we planned to meet and have coffee but I left his office feeling a little strange. Why had it almost felt like he was asking me out on a date?
Surely, it was my imagination. Maybe it was because I was kicking Justin to the curb and, perhaps, my mother had been right the time she’d said I was the kind of woman who didn’t know how to live without a man.
Was that true? Was I looking at Sarah’s counselor as a potential match? The guy wasn’t bad looking. In fact, the opposite was true, with his short brown hair, facial hair trimmed into a neat goatee and mustache, almost as tall as Justin.
What the fuck was wrong with me? This man was only concerned about Sarah and wanted to help.
As I drove to work, though, I began dwelling on the