I haven’t heard from him in the last week. I’ve done my best to not talk about him, think about him, or look for him at every turn. I hoped that after the last thirteen years of doing just that, I would be a pro. However, I’ve yet to master this skill. He keeps starring in my dreams, and I find myself daydreaming about his lips.
“Sorry, you took me by surprise. Not to be rude, but why are you calling me?”
“Chastity asked me to.”
Okay, but why didn’t she call me? That initial fear that something has happened to her hits me. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. I should’ve led with that. She’s at the house after working with my dad at the clinic. They got a little sidetracked with the animals and then my mother refused to let her leave without eating.”
“Okay…” I say, confused. “What is she doing now?”
“She’s doing her homework. Are you okay with me dropping her off or do you want to come get her?”
“I’m sorry, did you say she’s doing her homework—at your house?”
Since when does she hang out where Everly is?
“Yeah, it’s a long story.”
I’m sure it is. “I can come get her. I have to run out and I can grab her on my way back.”
Tonight, Chastity and I will have some mother-daughter time. I baked a cake that I plan to eat for dinner. Cake has eggs and eggs are healthy.
“Sounds good. What time are you thinking?”
Yeah, sounds great…I won’t be able to avoid him face-to-face.
“An hour? Is that okay?”
I’m not sure why I’m asking him if that’s okay, she’s my daughter.
“I’m guessing that’s fine, she and Everly are talking now.”
“Umm…what?” I ask with a hint of panic and a lot of confusion in my voice.
As of last night, Everly was being referred to as Satan’s mistress. I don’t think the two of them suddenly became best friends.
“Yeah, I had the same reaction. Apparently, the school is trying to force them to be friends.”
“How so?”
“They were paired together on a writing assignment about social media.”
That’s really not the smartest idea. Chastity likes working with a partner as much as I like the idea of seeing Keith’s face. She always ends up doing the entire thing on her own, getting the other person an A, and complaining about incompetence in the education system.
While I normally find her frustration funny, I have a feeling this time it won’t be entertaining.
“I’ll call her teacher,” I say, already planning how to get her out of this.
“Why?”
“Because they hate each other.” Is he seriously not thinking this could be bad?
Derek clears his throat. “Do you remember how we became friends?”
He can’t possibly think this is the same. First, it’s girls. Girls are…mean. Derek and I didn’t hate each other and plot an untimely demise of the other. These two hate each other. The last few weeks it hasn’t gotten better. Everly has almost doubled her efforts, and Chastity has been on a rampage about ways to make her sick without it showing on a toxicology report.
“You can’t force this. The school shouldn’t either.”
“I know it’s not ideal but Everly will be supervised.”
My first instinct is to bite back at him that they’re supervised at school, and yet that hasn’t stopped his daughter’s behavior. “I’m not comfortable with this, Derek.”
“I understand that you’re not, but this could be a good thing.”
“What about this is good?”
He sighs. “I don’t know, but I think we need to let them work this out. If we intervene it’ll be worse for Chastity. It’ll look like her mother had to stop her from having to be around a bully. Trust me, I spent a good part of my life dealing with the end she’s on.”
He’s right. If I call the school and get her paired with someone else, Chastity will suffer. This parenting thing is really freaking hard. I owe my mother a cake too.
Well, maybe one with some laxatives.
“Fine. But you should know, Chastity shares everything with me and if I find out that while under your supervision she was tortured, I assure you that I will retaliate.”
It’s an idle threat, but still.
“Against a thirteen-year-old?”
“No, against her father, who won’t have to worry about another seven-year drought because he’ll be missing a certain appendage.”
Derek chuckles. “Noted. See you soon, Tea.”
Great. “See you soon.”
There are a few errands I need to do before I get Chastity. We need supplies for our girls’ night in. Plus, now that I know she’s being forced to work with Everly, I’m going to need to sweeten her up because I can’t even imagine the mood she’ll be in.
I grab my purse and head to the grocery store, where Mrs. McCutchrey is changing the decorations on her storefront. She does this each month and it’s the big excitement on the off months in this beach town. Who knows what theme she might pick?
It sounds pathetic even in my head.
“Hi, Mrs. McCutchrey,” I say with a smile.
She’s the nicest woman in this town. While others have gossiped about my life choices, she’s never said anything. In fact, when Chastity was born, she made her a blanket and brought me a meal each Friday for the first six months.
She will always hold a very special place in my heart. Plus, Chastity loves her and she makes the best macaroni and cheese in town.
“Oh, Teagan, hi, honey.”
“How is the decorating going?”
She grins. “Just fine. I’m going for a Parisian theme this time. I’m hoping Ed finally takes the hint and whisks me away.”
Their marriage is one that everyone envies. He dotes on her and she takes exceptional care of him. Each day around eleven, she leaves the store to cook him a hot lunch. If he’s working late, she brings dinner and joins him until he’s finished. I asked her once why they do that, and she explained that there’s nothing more important than sharing meals together, which is why she brought me one each week.
Of all the people in the
