How had I missed that?
I looked down at my watch.
I had exactly twelve minutes to go get my car and drive over to the high school to be on time for my first class.
I took a step in my car’s direction just as another voice had me stopping—this one a lot more welcoming than Alfred’s.
Not that Alfred bothered me—he just wasn’t this particular little girl.
“Hi, Ms. Crusie!” the little girl hollered.
I turned, a smile already on my face, and blinked rapidly.
Why?
Because little Moira Berey, Ezra’s niece, was standing there with none other than her Uncle Ezra right beside her.
“Hi, Moira!” I said, smiling a little bit shyly. “How are you today?”
My gaze went from Moira to her uncle, and I had to clench my belly in reaction to his beautiful eyes aimed my way.
Ezra McDuff’s eyes seemed to bore right through me, and I looked away.
It’d been a few weeks since our first encounter in his sex-ed classroom, and I had to say that I hadn’t faired any better in the weeks following that. The class never got easier, mostly because the topics got harder.
“Ms. Crusie, did you see my hooker boots?”
I blinked. “Your…what?”
“My hooker boots!” She turned and showed me her high-heeled boots, that were actually quite adorable on her, and preened.
I glanced from the ‘hooker boots’ to the uncle, and back again.
Ezra was too busy looking up at the sky to notice that I was staring.
“Moira, swear to God. I told you not to tell anybody that!”
My lips twitched.
“Why not? I love my hooker boots!” she paused. “But probably not as much as my shit-kickers. I can’t decide. I think I like my shit-kickers better because I can get dirty in them. Uncle Ezra said I can’t wear these when we’re at the park because I might step in goose shit.”
I covered my mouth when Ezra started to curse to the heavens.
“Um, darlin’?” I paused. “We probably shouldn’t say ‘s-h-i-t’ at school.”
“What does s-h-i-t spell?”
I bit my lip to keep the laughter from bubbling out.
“Shit.”
I wasn’t sure if she was cursing just to curse or cussing to explain the word I’d spelled. Either way, I couldn’t contain the smile.
“Alrighty, then,” I said as I smiled down at Moira. “I have to go to school, girl. Good luck on your spelling test today.”
“You have a spelling test today?” Ezra asked, sounding somewhat alarmed.
Thinking now was a good time to go, I hoofed it as fast as I possibly could across the parking lot and slid into my car without further ado.
After pressing the button on the dash that started my new vehicle up, a tap-tap-tap-brrrrrr sounded from it.
I frowned and tried again.
This time the screen on the dash said, “Key Fob Not Detected.”
“What do you mean the key fob isn’t detected?” I cried, holding the keys up in my hand and dangling them in front of the dash like the car might be able to see that it was, indeed, there.
Pressing the button again, I got another message—this one saying ‘Key Fob Battery Low.’
What the absolute fuck?
After one final try, I realized that it probably wasn’t going to happen.
What was the freakin’ point in getting a new car if the damn thing did exactly what my old one did? At least with my old one, a chartreuse bucket of rust Chevy Silverado, I knew that the damn thing would start—even if it did pour out black smoke the entire time you drove it.
Sure, it was embarrassing, but it got me where I needed to go.
I muttered under my breath as I reached into the back seat for my running shoes.
At least I had those.
This trek across the football field to get to the high school would’ve been bad if I had to do it in my sandals.
This early in the day, the grass was wet from it being watered every morning around five—I knew the exact time because I was there every single time the water turned on unless it was raining.
I had to get my exercise in somehow.
Toeing off my sandals, I slipped my tennis shoes on sans socks, and said a silent prayer that my shoes wouldn’t be too wet for tomorrow due to what I was about to put them through, and got out.
I took off, moving much faster than I probably should have been.
I mean, hello! Walking disaster, right here!
After hurrying down the driveway that led to the elementary school, I took a left and headed a little farther up the highway before cutting through the football field.
I’d made it about halfway across the field when my toe caught on a sprinkler head and nearly took me down.
After regaining my balance, I shot forward again, only this time to actually go down hard on the track.
At least it wasn’t still wet like the grass, I thought annoyingly.