Anthony’s laugh bubbled from under the door, and Esther drew in a deep breath. Melanie had been right. She didn’t want to sit in the bedroom and eat by herself. It took some maneuvering, but she managed to slide out of the bed without knocking any food or drink onto it. She dressed in a loose pair of pajamas and tank top, what she normally slept in when Melanie wasn’t over for the night, and grabbed the tray.

  In seconds, she was sitting next to Melanie at the kitchen table and eating with them. Anthony was ecstatic about the French toast, and Esther supposed he likely had never had it before. She cut herself a bite and popped it into her mouth, moaning as the flavors hit.

  “He’s right,” Esther said around her food. “This is delicious.”

  Melanie beamed, her eyes crinkling in the corners. “Anthony says he wants this to be his new weekend meal.”

  Esther was slightly startled by how that thought didn’t scare her at all. Easing into breakfast, she didn’t answer, but did give Melanie a raised and curious eyebrow in response. Instead, she focused on Anthony, who was shoving a huge forkful into his tiny mouth.

  “It’s so good,” he said again.

  Esther chuckled lightly as she grabbed her coffee and sipped it, thankful for the burst of heat and caffeine that hit her. They hadn’t slept much the night before, and she was going to need every extra bit of energy that she could get.

  Reaching out under the table, she curled her fingers around Melanie’s knee and squeezed, realizing for the first time that she was back in her jeans from yesterday. They were going to have to fix that for the next time. Melanie deserved to be as comfortable as they were.

  “Tomorrow is a school day, so I get to call you Ms. Przybyla then,” Anthony stated randomly.

  “Yes, you do,” Melanie eyed him. “But that’s for tomorrow. Today you can call me Melanie.”

  “Is Melanie going grocery shopping with us, Mom?”

  Esther sucked in a deep breath. He was right, Sundays were their typical grocery days, and she didn’t have time the upcoming week to do it, so they would have to go sometime that day. “I don’t know.”

  “Are you?” Anthony turned on Melanie with wide eyes.

  “You know, I would love to, Anthony, but I think I need to go home and spend some time with Avery.” Melanie sipped her own coffee as she leaned back in her chair.

  Esther eyed her carefully, trying to read into why she would go home—if it really was to spend time with her own family or if it was to give Esther and Anthony some time together or if it was because she wanted to get out of the house. The last thought was intrusive, and Esther had to logic her way around it, telling herself it was improbable after the week they’d had together.

  Melanie’s fingers tangled with hers was a good reminder that not all was wrong that morning. Esther refused to let go and ate with one hand while she held Melanie’s. “So what time did you two wake up?”

  Anthony frowned and looked to Melanie for help with answering that question.

  “I think Anthony woke me up around six.”

  “Six?” Esther raised an eyebrow at Anthony. “You know you’re not supposed to leave your room until seven.”

  “Sorry, Mom. But I wanted to surprise you.”

  “And you did surprise me. A good surprise. Thank you.” Now that her mind was spinning more rapidly, she could see he needed her attention and praise. “It tastes so good, I can’t believe you made it.”

  “Well, Melanie helped,” Anthony replied, slightly sheepish, but he was still beaming from her praise.

  She loved that he was so easy to please some days. Kids were in a lot of ways simple. Love them. Love them through everything, and they would love back. Melanie’s thumb brushed against the center of her palm, sending tingles of anticipation through Esther’s chest. How she could want to take Melanie back to bed so soon was surprising, but she did. She wanted all the time they had together to be together, though this time with Anthony was equally as amazing.

  Finally they were done eating, and Melanie insisted she and Anthony clean up the dishes. Esther sat at the table, chatting with them while she sipped her second cup of coffee for the morning and watched as Melanie taught Anthony how to load the dishwasher. When they were done, Melanie put her hands on her hips and eyed Esther carefully.

  “Done to your satisfaction?”

  Anthony giggled.

  “Hmm.” Esther set her coffee on the table and stood up. She ran her finger over the cleaned counter and studied it, knowing she wouldn’t find any dust or powdered sugar remaining. Next she opened the dishwasher and bent down as if really inspecting it. When she glanced at Anthony, he was enraptured with what she was doing.

  She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and trailed her gaze over each of them carefully, landing firmly on Melanie. She let her look linger until the blush showed up in Melanie’s cheeks and trailed down her neck to her chest. God, she wished she could see how far down that blush went. Esther’s lips quirked up.

  “I think you two did a fine job.”

  Anthony jumped up and down in his excitement, and Esther didn’t move her gaze from Melanie’s. They were locked in a stare down. As Anthony calmed, Esther drew in a sharp breath as she took two quick steps forward and reached her hand behind Melanie’s neck and drew her down into a long, heated kiss. She lost herself in the moment, in Melanie’s mouth against hers, the heat of their bodies.

  “Ewwww.” Anthony’s voice broke through her fog, but Esther didn’t even care. She wanted this, and she wasn’t going to push it away any longer.

  Chapter Thirty

  For some reason, that day, her phone ringing an hour before the end of the school day wasn’t a surprise. Seeing Skip’s name flash across the screen, Esther bit her tongue. She did not want to answer it. She didn’t want to deal with him and what was inevitably going to be him canceling on Anthony again.

  Taking in a restrained breath, Esther checked over her class and answered on the last ring before it went to voicemail. “You really need to learn that I can’t just answer phone calls in the middle of the day.”

  “Why the attitude, Esther?” Skip feigned innocence, but she knew he did it just to tick her off, which he was very good at doing.

  She lowered her voice as the kids focused on their assignment, working in groups of four to make their own versions of the solar system. “Are you getting him tonight or not?”

  “I can’t.”

  “Then I’ll pick him up. Thanks for letting me know.” Without waiting for another response, Esther hung up her cell phone and shoved it into her desk after turning it off. She’d likely get a dozen more calls from him before the end of the day, but she was so tired of it. He never wanted to compromise. He always wanted it to be his way, and any move Esther made in any other direction got her the butt end of the stick.

  She rolled her shoulders and went back to what she was supposed to be doing, teaching the kids in her class. Melanie was right. It was time for her to start putting down some thick boundaries where it concerned Skip. That started today.

  Esther spent the rest of the school day entirely focused on her students, and it felt amazing. She was relaxed, knowing that she would have to deal with Skip at some point, but at least she had decided how she was going to handle him from there on out. She stepped out of her classroom after calling the daycare to let them know Skip wouldn’t be picking Anthony up today and headed for the front office. They had a staff meeting, but first she wanted to try and catch Chris before it started.

  As soon as she walked into the office, Linda gave her a sour look. Esther lifted an eyebrow up in curiosity just as her stomach plummeted. She’d seen the missed calls and voicemails from Skip on her phone, and she stupidly hadn’t thought about how many times he might have called the school. Still none of the calls had been transferred to her room, so perhaps she was wrong and he hadn’t.

  Linda lifted her hand, a stack of pink slips in them. Esther frowned as she took them, reading the top one, then the next. Each one had Skip’s name on them and after the first two, it stopped with any kind of note left for her. Esther swallowed hard as her lips parted.

  “Esther.”

  Chris’ firm voice startled her, and she jumped. Spinning toward the principal’s office, Esther stared at Chris with wonder and fear. She couldn’t stop that fear even though she wanted to. She may have decided not to answer Skip, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have ways to get to her that weren’t through her cell phone, that he wouldn’t use his power as a member of the school board to get his way. Chris reached forward and took the pink slips, sending Linda a glare.

  “We’ll talk about this after the meeting, okay? We need more time than we have right now.”

  Esther wanted to believe that she was in trouble, that this would result in a talking to, but something in the tender and almost pitying way Chris spoke to her told her to be at ease. When she raised her chin up, Chris’ gaze was soft as she looked at her. “Okay.”

  “I promise nothing bad.” Chris put a gentle hand on Esther’s shoulder before stepping into her office, depositing the pink slips, and grabbing the notebook and calendar she always seemed to carry with her. “Let’s go.”

  Together they walked down the hall to where the rest of the teachers were waiting for the staff meeting to begin. Melanie sat next to her, but Esther struggled to pay attention through it all. She could only hope that Melanie would fill her in later when she had a clearer head.

  Instead of following Melanie, who gave her an odd look, Esther followed Chris back to her office when the meeting was done. Chris shut the door and sat in the chair nearest the windows. Esther followed, wondering if this was going to be the last of it, if the entire reason she wanted to talk to Chris in the first place would be a moot point after this conversation.

  “He called thirteen times.”

  Esther said nothing, and she couldn’t even look Chris in the eye as she sat stoically.

  “How many times did he call your cell phone?”

  “I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Esther argued, wanting so desperately to protect herself against anything else he might do to her, whether intentional or as a reflex to his own actions.

  Chris’ voice was so soft when she spoke again. “Esther, how many times?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t count.”

  “Does this happen often? I know he’s done this to the front office several times over this semester.”

  “Several?” Esther’s eyes widened as she stared directly at Chris. “This is only the second.”

  Chris shook her head. “No, it’s not. I just didn’t bother to give you the messages from the last few, and I wasn’t planning on giving them to you this time.”

  Esther’s lips parted. “Those are my messages.”

  “They are,” Chris answered. “And he’s harassing one of my teachers.”

  Esther clenched her jaw, not sure what to say. Her heart raced as she eyed Chris carefully. No one had ever claimed her like that in a way that was beneficial to her. None of that possessive crap ever led to good things. Esther shook her head. “They’re my messages, and I don’t see how you preventing me from getting them is going to benefit anyone.”

  “It distracts you from your job, which you’re very good at. And it’s not useful to you in any way.”

  Esther frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  “I talked to Andry about you.” Chris waved her hand in the air. “It took me a bit to finally break down and do it, but Skip calling here, emailing me, it was getting excessive, and with some of what Melanie has shared—”

  “What has she shared?” Esther panicked again, this time wondering exactly how Melanie had managed to betray her and exploit her secrets.

  “Not much, honestly, but I know her pretty well, and I’m good at reading between the lines. Esther, he does this at every school you work at. You know that right?”

  Esther’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. “He emailed you?”

  “Almost weekly since I hired you. At first it was good emails, uplifting your work, and then it started toward your weaknesses, then continued on from there. I never responded to any of them.”

  She couldn’t even begin to find words. Had he been doing this at every school she had worked at? Was his hold on her that strong? Tears stung her eyes, and Esther shook her head before looking up at Chris. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What are you sorry for?” Chris looked confused now. “You’re not doing any of this.”

  “I’m the cause.”

  “You absolutely are not the cause. You’re the target of his harassment. My guess is because of Anthony and that’s how he continues to keep a hold on you, otherwise you would have left already, but none of this is your fault.”

  “I’ll start looking—”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” Chris interrupted. “Not unless it’s what you really want. But I won’t have you leaving this school because of him.”

  Esther gaped. “But it’s causing a disruption.”

  “Nothing we can’t handle, and Esther, if you want to stay here, I’ll fight for you to stay here. You are a wonderful teacher, and you’re finally coming around and opening up. I would hate to miss getting to know you.”

  Esther sat stunned. She had no answer. Her go-to was always to leave when it became too much and the looks from other teachers and staff were pointed in her direction too often, when the whispers became too much. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I like you, despite your many attempts to have no one like you. And like I said, you’re a very good teacher. I’d like to keep you around if I can.”

  “But it’ll cause more problems.”

  “It might in the short term, but people like Skip don’t tend to push back for long when they meet strong resistance.”

  Esther stared incredulously. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you’ll stay, and then we’ll figure out from here on what you want to do.”

  “What do you mean what I want?”

  “You can file harassment charges, with the Cheyenne Police or with the school district. Honestly, either will do in this case.”

  Esther’s heart stuttered. “I can’t do that.”

  “Because of Anthony?”

  A slight nod was Esther’s response.

  “Think about it, Esther. It might be for his benefit if you’re in a better place, despite how difficult it will be for a bit.”

  Her mind spun, her heart all caught up in the conversation, in what she wanted and what she expected to happen. Esther didn’t have words to give. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Like I said, say you’ll stay, but even if you don’t, I want to give you every chance to succeed.”

  “Thank you,” Esther murmured. “I mean that.”

  Chris’ lips curled up in a smile, her brown eyes squinting in the corners. “Now that that’s settled, I did want to add that I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Right.” Esther stared down at her hands, her heart racing to the point it was hard to breathe, but she’d decided she was going to do this. She wanted to do this, even if it might ruin the entire conversation they’d just had. “I did want to talk to you, though.”

  “What about?” Chris crossed one ankle over her knee.

  “Melanie.” Esther lifted her gaze to look directly into Chris’ eyes.

  “About the protest?”

  Esther narrowed her eyes. “What protest?”

  “You really weren’t paying attention during the meeting, were you?” Chris grinned.

  “I was distracted.”

  Chuckling lightly, Chris nodded. “Ask Melanie about it later. What did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Melanie.”

  “What about Melanie?” Chris held on to her ankle tightly as she waited patiently.

  Esther had no idea how to even break the ice on this one. Clenching her fists tightly, she opted to just go for it. “We’re dating.”

  Chris’ eyes lit up brightly before she schooled her features tightly, but Esther hadn’t missed that moment of excitement.

  “Which can cause some more complications with Skip when he finds out. I haven’t… I don’t know how he will react, but I don’t imagine it’ll be good.”

  “I wouldn’t imagine so.” Chris’ lips twitched up into a smile as she leaned in. “Before we get to the serious side of this, can I just say how excited I am for the two of you?”

  “Did you know?”

  “I suspected, but I was waiting for one of you to tell me. I honestly never thought it’d be you.” Chris patted Esther’s hand before sliding back. “But this does concern Anthony.”

  “I know.”

  “Let me see what we can do about keeping him in the same class. I’d hate to move him just for this, but I’d hate for this to cause any disruptions to our other students. Also, let me deal with Skip on that front. You deal with him on the other one.”

  “What other one?”

  “Personal.” Chris shifted to lean her elbows on her knees as she bent over. “Leave the school to me. Since I’d suspected, I’ve been working on solutions to this for a few months now.”

  “Months?” Esther nearly squeaked out the word, but she caught herself at the last minute.

  “Just trust me.”

  “I don’t know how to trust you.”

  Chris’ smile faltered for a moment before she jumped in with an answer. “We’ll work on that. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Esther left her office reeling. The conversation had not been what she’d expected, although she likely should have. Chris was not oblivious, and if she was Melanie’s best friend, it wouldn’t be without reason.

  Melanie stretched her hands over her head as she sat on her couch with Chris right next to her. The tea she’d started was half full and abandoned. She didn’t have the energy to finish it, not with her lack of sleep from the weekend she’d had with Esther. Still, when Chris had insisted on coming over, she couldn’t say no. They hadn’t spent as much time together the last few months as she would have liked, and guilt over that was in full force.