“This isn’t my specialty,” Tracy yawns in agreement.
“Allie!” Bella yells while running toward me, her eyes wide. “What are you still doing here? You were supposed to be at the school already.”
Panicking, I check my watch, but it’s just barely ten after two. And why would I go to the school? She knows I meet Angel at the bus stop on my days to get her.
“Bella, calm down. What’s going on?”
“Career day,” she prompts. “You took a half day today.”
“That’s next week,” I say dismissively.
“No. It’s today. I wrote it down on the calendar myself.”
My stomach lurches when I think of Angel sitting there and waiting for me, only to have me not show up.
“Shit. I’ve got to go.”
I rush out of the doors, and flip off the guy who blows the horn at me when I run in front of him. It takes me too long to find my car and crank it, and I swear the red lights conspire against me, each one turning red just as I near it.
This day is slowly getting worse by the minute.
I almost squeal tires when I pull into the school parking lot, but just as abruptly, I jerk to the same halt my car does. The doors are opening, and kids with their parents are filtering out. It’s already pickup time. Damn.
As the parents move off to the side, I notice a lot of them are wearing suits, mostly men. They’re all walking away, leaving behind another crowd that is coming out. My heart sputters to a near stop when I see one man I wasn’t expecting.
Wren is smiling at the flock of women and kids who are talking, and Angel is happily attached to his hip, her smile forcing me to grin against my will. She’s been having a hard time trying to socialize. She’s so standoffish that it makes it hard to be friends with new kids. But right now, it seems like she’s the Belle of the Ball.
Another familiar face emerges, and much to my surprise, it’s Tag Masters who is carrying a small boy that is less than a year old. He’s cradling him with care, as a woman with long, dark hair comes up to his side and kisses the boy’s head.
They pause to talk amongst the group that has flogged Wren, and Tag nods in his direction before they head off. I slowly get out of my car and wade through the after-school traffic to reach the assembly.
“Mommy! Here!” Angel calls, grinning when she sees me and waves from her high position on Wren’s hip.
Taking a few extra breaths, I manage a smile, prepared for the worst. I’m sure Wren is going to let me have it after what I did to him the other day.
A few envious, and somewhat evil, glares are sent my way from the women he dismisses on his way to me. I ignore them, because they’re seriously misreading the situation.
Angel shakes her head with a small smile playing on her lips. “Wren gets asked on a lot of dates,” she declares, and Wren’s throaty laughter tingles in places on me where I wish it didn’t.
“Oh?” I muse.
She nods, sighing as though she’s putout, and Wren laughs more before putting her down between us.
“I was going to give her a ride to the bus stop where she meets you. I figured you must have gotten waylaid at work.”
Still waiting on his outburst, I try to sound calm and collected, even though I’m close to being in tears. I can’t believe I let Angel down. Not me. I’m supposed to be the one she can always count on.
“I got the dates for this mixed up. I… messed up.”
His lips twitch, but other than that, he doesn’t express any emotion. “It happens. That’s why there’s two of us. One can be there when the other can’t. Angel called me. I didn’t have anything else going on at the time, and I was close by.”
That’s it? That can’t be it. He owes me a severe lashing in retribution for the way I treated him.
“Can Wren come with us for dinner?”
Wren smiles down at her, and he kneels before pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek. She quickly wraps her arms around his neck, and he hugs her to him. Damn, that’s sweet.
“It’s fine, Angel. I should probably get home. Thanks for calling me today.”
“Thank you for coming,” she says sweetly. “And for giving everyone candy.”
He laughs again before standing, and without looking at him, I find myself talking before I can stop. “Come to the house. It won’t be a special dinner, but it’s the least I can do.”
Angel waits very impatiently for him to answer, and I chance a look at him to see he’s studying me with a partial grin.
“Okay. Let’s go to your house.”