I breathed in and out slowly, deeply. My muscles wanted to tense up, but I did my best to force them to relax. I’d seen a Bruce Lee documentary once and during an interview he spoke about how it was best to spring into action from a relaxed place, not a tense one. Somehow it gave you much more speed, power, and control. I hoped I could apply it here.
I moved down the hallway looking everywhere for anything out of the ordinary. I saw nothing. My house was nice and quiet, just as I wanted it to be. I rounded the corner from the hallway and entered the kitchen. It was empty. The refrigerator was humming loudly, rattling enough to wake the dead in my mind.
I moved from the kitchen to the living room. Still finding nothing, I took my search to the laundry room and the garage.
I relaxed the bat off my shoulder and breathed in deeply. The house was secure. I didn’t see anything. I wasn’t sure what had made the noise, but for now I felt a little bit safer.
On the way back to bed I glanced out the window to check on my neighborhood. It seemed quiet, dark, and peaceful.
When I got back to my bedroom, I placed the bat under my bed and laid down easily.
I laid there in the dark for several minutes, waiting to see what would be coming after me. Eventually, I concluded that it was nothing and I was going to be fine for the evening, but I couldn’t let go of the idea that it would change sometime very soon.
One of these nights was going to be my last.
CHAPTER 9
Mason
I was nervous.
I’d been rehearsing the proper way to do this most of the previous night and during the day. It had distracted me from my work, interfered with my workout, and it had even been freaking me out as I ate lunch alone in my office (which I chose to do so that I could catch up on some work emails I’d been neglecting).
I had made up my mind. I was going to ask Libby what was going on with her and why she was closing the school. I realized I had no right to really pry into her personal life, and to more or less demand that she opens up to me, but I actually felt like I was doing the right thing.
When I dropped Toby off at school that morning I could already see several of the other parents having a mini conference with Libby, as she told them a vague excuse about why she was closing the school and why she’d had to give out such a short notice. I wasn’t sure if I should stay for that and show what a concerned parent I was, or if I should wait.
Knowing that I might be able to help Libby if she’d let me, I decided it was best if I waited until that afternoon when the other parents might not be swarming her like a pack of vultures in the desert.
I had a strong feeling that there was a financial issue behind her decision and I really wanted to help her out. I’ve never been the type of guy to think that money solves everything, or to just swoop in and play the hero because of my fortunate circumstances, but I considered Libby a friend, and of course I had strong romantic feelings for her as well (which she may or may not have reciprocated) and I cared deeply about my son’s future. Libby was a great teacher and my son loved her class. I could see he was flourishing and I didn’t want to jeopardize that if there was a way I could lend a hand to stop the closure of Libby’s school.
So, I was going to offer the help and see how she responded.
“Toby, would you go play a minute while I talk to Miss Norris?” I asked Toby after giving him a huge hug when I picked him up.
“Ok, daddy,” Toby said. He ran over to the toy chest and began playing with a large dinosaur action figure.
Libby smiled watching him go. Then she faced me, a look of concern in her face at my odd request.
“What’s on your mind?” Libby asked.
“Well, of course I’m concerned about the school closing down, as the other parents are. Our kids love you; is there any way you can reconsider?”
Libby swallowed hard. She almost looked as if she was going to cry for a moment and then she cleared her throat and regained herself.
“No, I’m sorry. I wish there was, but I don’t really have a choice.”
I took a deep breath. “Is it money?”
“What?”
“Look, if it is a financial issue, I would be more than glad to help.”