Pinching the bridge of her nose, Esther tried to shake those thoughts from her head. She really didn’t need to travel down that path yet again, not when her night had been so wholesome. She would have to make sure to stop by and talk to Melanie and let her know how much she appreciated what she had done for Anthony, how helpful she was during a difficult situation. She would do exactly that come Monday. Until then, she was stuck with finishing out her lesson plans before she could catch a few hours of sleep.

  Melanie steered her car toward Chris’ house, pulling up outside and honking the horn lightly to let Chris know she was there. Katie was gone at Andry’s again, and Chris was struggling with it. Ever since their divorce, Chris had struggled, and Melanie had made sure she was there to support her friend in any way possible.

  As Chris slid into the passenger seat, Melanie gave her a smile and pulled away from the curb. “I’m glad you’re able to come out tonight.”

  Chris snorted. “What else would I be doing?”

  “Maybe you have a hot date?”

  “Hardly. I’m done with dating. I’ll leave it to you single people who have never had a bad match, a bad marriage, a disgusting divorce.”

  Melanie raised an eyebrow, risking a glance to her friend. “That bad this week?”

  Sighing heavily, Chris pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah. It was bad. Katie doesn’t want to come over much. Says she wants consistency before she goes to college in the fall.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Melanie reached out and touched Chris’ thigh lightly in a moment of support. “I can’t imagine my kids not wanting to be with me.”

  “I know. I mean, I get it, Andry has less rules, and she’s always been the fun parent. Andry has what she wants and needs right now, and I’m just a drunk on the sober track—barely. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.” Chris’ eyes filled with tears, but she brushed them away as she stared out the front windshield.

  Melanie’s heart really did go out to her. Not much had changed in the two years since she’d told her in a drunken stupor that Andry had filed for divorce. Chris was still hopelessly in love with her ex-wife, and stuck in the push and pull of what she should want and what she actually wanted.

  “She’ll get there, you know. Katie? She knows you love her, and she’s probably just striving for some kind of stability that she hasn’t had in years, and right when she started high school too.”

  “I know.” Chris frowned. “But it hurts me too, you know? And I can say that to you. I can’t say that to her. I won’t. She doesn’t need the added stress or pressure that her decisions have other consequences.”

  “Good for you, and I’m here to listen. I promise.” Melanie pulled onto Dell Range, and took the quickest route to their chosen restaurant for the night. They lapsed into a gentle silence until she parked and they were ready to get out. “Let’s have a good night, okay? You can rant and rave all you want, or we can pretend that part doesn’t exist. Just tell me what you need.”

  Chris’ eyes crinkled as her lips turned up into a smile. “I need to hang out with my best friend. Let’s start there.”

  “Deal.” Melanie squeezed Chris’ hand before getting out of the car and walking toward the restaurant. It was packed—the joys and woes of going out on a Saturday night.

  They were seated at the bar as they waited for their table, grabbing a drink each as they put their heads together to brainstorm what to do for Katie in the spring when she graduated. Melanie had been through the graduation ordeal more times than she cared to count, so she had a pretty good idea of how to handle the party, except she’d never done it while attempting to co-parent.

  She was about to wave down the bartender for a second drink when a man took up the seat next to Melanie.

  “I can cover those drinks for you.”

  Melanie turned around to face him fully, eyeing his graying hair and the aging face that he clearly was trying to make not look old. She cocked her head at him, amber eyes locking on her before flicking to Chris.

  “If I’m not interrupting anything.” His voice was smooth, his tone practiced.

  Melanie was about to object when Chris interjected. “You’re not. We were just finishing that topic of conversation.”

  Turning sharply to Chris, Melanie gave her a glare of surprise. What the hell was she doing? They were there to spend the night together to decompress after the week they’d both had and now Chris was inviting this man to the conversation? It was so out of character. Chris raised an eyebrow.

  “You remember Board Member Skip Johnson, don’t you?” Chris added, as if Melanie was stupid. Which she was. She should have recognized him, but she had honestly never seen him this close up before.

  Melanie plastered a fake smile on her face as she looked at him. “I do. It’s good to meet you in person, finally.”

  Holding out her hand, she waited for him to take it, which he hesitated to do. Melanie had to give him props for that one. He probably had no idea they were teachers before that moment, maybe he knew Chris, but he certainly didn’t know her. She wasn’t someone who regularly attended board meetings in person and certainly wasn’t someone who caused drama where the board was concerned.

  “You as well.” His tone dropped, but the flirtatious quality was still very much present. “Will you tell me your names?”

  “I’m Melanie, and this is Chris.”

  He nodded slowly, his perfectly coiffed hair staying exactly in place. He ordered himself a drink along with a second round of whatever they had before. He did seem to at least be taking his time deciding whether or not he wanted to continue to talk with them, now that he knew they were teachers.

  As their drinks were delivered, Skip leaned on the bar and faced Melanie fully. “I don’t come here often, but I’m glad to have run into you.”

  “Oh?” Melanie furrowed her brow at him. Was this flirting? It had been so long since anyone had done that with her that she’d nearly forgotten what it was like. Not to mention this was awkward. “Why would you be glad to run into us?”

  “Because you’re familiar.” He grinned and took a sip of his drink. “Even if we don’t know each other, we understand the same world.”

  “You’re a lawyer, Mr. Johnson.”

  “Please, call me Skip.” He placed a hand on top of Melanie’s very briefly before removing it. “There’s no need for formalities tonight. We’re not here for that.”

  She really wanted to bark back with what she and Chris were there for, which did not include him, but Chris kicked her lightly in the shin. She did have to make nice with him, since he was on the school board, so she held her tongue.

  “Would you ladies mind joining me for dinner? I’m afraid whoever I was supposed to meet isn’t coming any longer.”

  “Sure,” Chris answered for them.

  Melanie nodded even though she wasn’t entirely sure she agreed with it. When they were finally brought to their table, Melanie ended up sitting next to Skip. He was rather charming, actually, once she got over the fact he was on the board, though she still kept her tongue in check.

  He was a smart businessman and had been in business in town for years, running his own law firm. She’d heard his name pop up in the news many times over the years, not just in regards to the school board but also because of his work in law and some of the cases he took on.

  As Melanie started on her third drink, the flirting between the two of them escalated to the next level. Chris kept giving her a knowing side look, and Melanie tried her best to ignore it. She was far more comfortable with Chris sitting there than if she’d been on a date with him alone. Happy coincidence.

  Toward the end of the meal, Skip put a hand on Melanie’s thigh, and she covered it with her own. He flicked his gaze to Chris but then focused all his attention on Melanie. “I would love to get to know you better, perhaps without your friend around.”

  Melanie’s lips parted in surprise. She hadn’t expected that. They had all been talking and having a good time, leaving the topic of school far behind, which was something both she and Chris had needed.

  “I don’t know,” Melanie murmured, sending Chris a look that begged her for help. Except Chris’ staunch refusal to reply was no help at all. “You’re on the school board.”

  “I promise you, it won’t affect anything. We rarely have interactions with individual teachers.”

  “But you make policy that affects me.”

  “And I won’t take our personal relationship into account for that.”

  Melanie pressed her lips together hard. In some ways, she hoped he would, that perhaps he would understand the challenges of being a teacher better if he knew one, but that also wasn’t the purpose of a date. “I’ll think about it.”

  “That’s all I can ask for.” He reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a card. “My cell number is on that. Call me when you make a decision.”

  Melanie stared at the card before she took it slowly. “All right.”

  His hand was back on her thigh, a place it had spent a lot of time that night. She hadn’t been touched so freely in such a long time, not since she’d last seriously dated someone over ten years prior, when the kids were still young. Except she’d realized very quickly, they needed her attention more than her dating a man.

  As they left, Skip leaned down and pressed a kiss to Melanie’s cheek before waving to Chris. When they got into Melanie’s car, she once again found herself staring at the card. “I can’t—”

  “You should do it,” Chris interjected. “Really. I know it’s unconventional, but you should go out with him on a date. You deserve a little happiness in your world too, and with Avery gone—you have the time now to do it. Even if you don’t go out with him, maybe try dating someone else.”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “Well, think about it. Like you told him. I’m in favor of it, as your best friend of course.”

  Melanie chuckled. “Fine. One date. I think I can manage that.”

  “Yes.” Chris grinned.

  Chapter Seven

  With Anthony playing safely on the playground under supervision, Esther stood in her classroom and watched him. She had done that several times the past week when he’d been with his father, as it was the only time she had gotten to spend with him. Yet the last weekend together had been so beneficial to her soul.

  Staying strong for him so he wouldn’t know how anxiety consumed her was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. Based on his comment about being late last week, she wasn’t doing an excellent job at hiding it from him.

  Esther swallowed hard as she crossed her arms and finally spied Anthony, running up the steps of the play equipment, racing toward the slide and going down it. Her lips quivered slightly at the sight, and she had to force herself to get back to getting ready for the day with her fifth graders.

  She had built a nice routine with her own kids so far, and they seemed to be enjoying her. She still needed to talk to Melanie and thank her for pushing to allow Anthony to call her. It really had put her frayed nerves back together, but she also knew it had helped him.

  All weekend, all he could do was talk about Ms. Przybyla and how amazing she was. Esther had spent the time reconsidering her previous assumptions and making the slow decision that perhaps she should be a little nicer—not that she’d been downright mean, but she hadn’t exactly been pleasant either. She never really was, to be fair. Time and history told her it would never be to her advantage.

  When she had everything set up, she left her room and headed down the cheery hallway. A few kids ran here and there, but the hallways were still mostly empty as the main bell hadn’t rung yet. The closer she got to the front door where the kids were dropped off for breakfast, the more children Esther saw.

  Her favorite little first grader with the toothless grin waved at her. “Hi, Ms. Dunja!”

  “Hi.” Esther bent down so they were more on an even level. “How was your weekend?”

  “Good!” There was a slight whistle to her voice, unpreventable due to the missing teeth.

  Esther’s lips quirked up. She couldn’t wait for Anthony to lose both front teeth. He couldn’t either. Esther settled a hand on the girl's shoulder, suddenly realizing that she didn’t even know the girl’s name. “Are you going to breakfast?”

  “Yeah, mom says I have to.”

  “It’s good to start the day with a good meal.”

  The girl scrunched her nose. “She says it’s because we don’t have food at home.”

  Esther’s stomach sank. “Then you best get going and make sure you get all you can eat, yeah?”

  “Yup!” She brightened right up and waved. “See you.”

  Esther watched with her arms crossed as the girl walked down the hallway, her oversized backpack hanging off her shoulders. Esther hadn’t realized just how small she was until then, how skinny she looked. Though that really could just be from her age and relative size and not from lack of food.

  “She was my student last year.”

  Esther spun on her toes, finding Melanie standing right next to her. “Who?”

  “Amelia.”

  “What?”

  “Her name is Amelia Crawford.”

  “Oh.” Esther instinctively tightened her arms. She hated being surprised like that, and Melanie had a knack for doing it. Then again, she probably shouldn’t stand in the middle of a hallway and not have her back faced toward a wall.

  “Come with me.” Melanie nodded her head toward her classroom, which was only a few steps away and exactly where Esther had been heading.

  She followed, albeit with slight reluctance considering this was not the conversation she had gone down there to have. She pressed her lips together hard as Melanie shut the door.

  “Sorry, I didn’t want to talk about her in the middle of the hall where little ears can hear. She deserves as much privacy as she can get.”

  “Makes sense,” Esther mumbled.

  “She wasn’t lying when she said there isn’t food at home. Her mom works two or three jobs, but there’s five kids in that family. Amelia is the youngest, but her older sister had a baby last fall, so now there’s one more mouth to feed.”

  “How old is her sister?”

  “Um…” Melanie pressed her lips together, her cheeks reddening slightly as she thought. Esther observed every change. This wasn’t Melanie’s normal sunny disposition, but it wasn’t far off either. “I think she’s sixteen this year.”

  Esther blew out a breath. “That’s hard.”

  “It is.” Melanie put her hand on Esther’s crossed arms, something that was fast becoming a habit, Esther was sure.

  Instead of warmth this time, heat seared through her at the touch, tingles blooming from where Melanie’s fingertips touched her skin. Esther’s lips parted, but she didn’t dare move. Her heart raced. It felt so good to be touched, as if someone wanted to, and yet this was the woman who drove her up the wall with her pestering.

  “I’m glad she likes you. She doesn’t like many teachers. I struggled to get her to open up to me.”

  “Must be something about your sunny happy-go-lucky disposition.”

  Melanie stilled, eyeing Esther up and down, her gaze trailing all over her face before she gave the slightest of nods. “Perhaps it is.”

  Esther released the tension in her chest as Melanie moved and dragged one of her desks away from the smart board at the front of her classroom. She hadn’t meant the comment to come off as an insult, but she deeply understood that sometimes wounded souls didn’t struggle to connect with other wounded souls. It made it easier in some ways, and she honestly should have recognized that with Amelia. She’d only talked to the girl once, simply, during a morning drop off, and ever since then Amelia had insisted they were the best of friends—well, as much as teacher and student could be.

  “I didn’t…” Esther stopped when Melanie jerked her head up with a curious look on her face. “I didn’t mean that badly.”

  “I didn’t think you did.” A smile played on Melanie’s lips. “I thought you meant it exactly as you said it. Sometimes we connect with like personalities. Sometimes we don’t.”

  Esther snorted. “Probably why we struggle.”

  “We struggle?” Melanie stood straight now, her hands at her sides, but a hint of laughter in her words. The simple outfit of slacks and blouse clung to her curves in a way Esther had never truly noticed before.

  Her heart skipped a beat, and she cursed under her breath. She knew where this was going. It had been a long time since she’d found herself wrapped up in a crush, and she definitely did not want to have a crush on her son’s teacher. That would only ever spell disaster, not to mention they worked together, and Melanie was supposed to be her mentor according to the school. She couldn’t do this. She would end up needing to transfer schools again when it ended badly.

  “Esther?”

  Esther snapped her gaze from Melanie’s breasts, where she hadn’t realized she’d been staring and swallowed hard. “Yeah, sorry.”

  “We struggle?”

  “Don’t we? I mean, you asked the other day why we’re oil and water.”

  A smile blossomed on Melanie’s lips, heating Esther in response. She had to get out of the room. Damn the moment of thanks for the phone call, she had to get out of there and find a way to get whatever was happening under control because she could not like the kindergarten teacher, the one her son spent hours with each day. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow herself to.

  “I did say that,” Melanie responded before bending down to drag another table.

  Esther stared at her ass. She didn’t even chastise herself when she should have because her skin was so clammy and her breathing so rapid. It felt almost like a panic attack, but it wasn’t. This was something way worse. Melanie stood up and moved to the last table, dragging it so there was a wide open space in front of the class.

  “We’re starting the day with some tactile learning,” Melanie said by way of explanation.