“Let me explain,” Kylee began.
Ron closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. She remembered him doing that when he was met with a particularly tough problem that he couldn’t work out. She stood then and took a step toward him. But he stepped back.
“You were just using me to get the account?”
Kylee’s advance halted. “Wait? What?”
“Am I so blind?” He squinted at her. “Have you changed so much?”
Kylee looked from Ron to her co-workers looking down at papers or at computer screens pretending they weren’t paying attention to the scene playing out.
“You think I was using you to get points at work?” Kylee said. “You can’t believe I’d do something like that?”
The tightness in his jaw loosened for just a second. But almost in the same instance, it stiffened again. “I wouldn’t have believed you’d run off with Jason Romano a decade ago. Or that he’d spend the night with you after I left you.”
“No,” Kylee held up her hands. “That is not what happened. He showed up out of nowhere, without calling.”
“And you let him in, late at night?”
“He wasn’t there for me. He claimed he wanted to see his daughter.”
“But that’s not true?”
“I’ve been trying to call you all day. Ron, can we just go somewhere and talk?”
Kylee reached out to him. But Ron pulled away from her. The look of hurt and betrayal on his face brought back a memory. It was of the day she’d decided to run away with Jason.
Ron had talked until he was blue in the face. He’d debated her logic, attacked her reasoning, he’d even drawn a chart. But Kylee wouldn’t be dissuaded. When she’d walked away, this was exactly how he’d looked at her.
His eyes had been slits, as though it hurt to look at her. His mouth had been turned down in a frown of utter disbelief. And his shoulders had hunched in defeat.
Kylee hadn’t thought about that moment again for nearly a year after she’d left. It had taken that long to realize that her best friend had been right. But she’d been too determined to make her relationship work. She’d tossed everything she had at the problem that was her marriage. But no single answer stuck until she’d decided to leave.
Ron had been right that day. He was wrong now. And now she had to make him see.
“Principal Kidd, we’re so delighted to have you in our offices.”
Syd Rowen approached the two of them with his hand out. Ron turned from Kylee and took the proffered hand.
“I hear you were impressed with Kylee’s pitch.”
“She made a very convincing argument.” Ron didn’t look at her as he spoke about her.
“She’s a rising star here at Thrive. With the work she’s done on the elementary school pitch, we’re considering her for advancement.”
“Well, it looks like we all have a decision to make,” said Ron. “If you’ll excuse me.”
And with that, he turned and walked out, closing the Thrive office door behind him.
Chapter Eighteen
“Principal Kidd, look.”
Ricky, Jr. ran over from his classroom door to greet Ron in the hall. His hands yanked at the bright red tie around his neck. The kid could’ve been a mirror image of Ron as a young boy running through these halls with his white collared shirt, dark slacks, and ever-present tie.
“I tied my tie myself,” the kid beamed up at Ron. “Well, my dad helped.”
Ron gave the kid’s tie an unnecessary straightening. It surprised him that Ricky, Sr. had stopped through town. The man traveled so much Ron only ever heard of him being around for the holidays. He’d always know that the elder Ricky had made a stopover or made time to call his son when Ricky, Jr. was beaming bright smiles for the next few days.