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Finally, he spoke, his voice soft and muffled by his scarf to the point I needed to strain to hear. “I have Fox to think about, and an ex… look, it’s complicated.” My stomach fell as I waited for what came next. “What I need right now is friends.”
Wait. What?
“Friends who don’t let other friends fall ass-over-head at meetings?” I teased to cover the instant disappointment that he was saying no.
“Yeah, friends like that.”
“Friends who have coffee?”
“Just knock on the door anytime; I have coffee.” We reached the diner, and just as we were about to part ways, Noah turned to me. “But…” He stopped again, pulled down his scarf a little so I could see his lips. “Coffee can be an uncomplicated date, and yeah, friends can date eventually,” he murmured, then with a smile, turned and let himself and a complaining Fox inside. I walked away, careful where I placed each crutch, feeling as if I could kick my heels up in excitement.
Only then, I would really fall on my ass.
ChapterEleven
Noah
As soon asI shut the door, Fox’s voice broke into my train of thoughts, carrying a tone that was a mixture of confusion and slight disapproval.
“It’s weird you having coffee with my teacher,” he remarked, his eyebrows knitting together in a frown. Well, there you go, he heard all of that then.
Of course, he did; he has ears like a bat.
There was a hint of discomfort in his eyes, a natural reaction to the merging of two separate worlds—home and school. I got where he was coming from. After all, it wasn’t every day a parent went out for coffee with their child’s teacher, especially in a small town where everyone knew each other’s business.
“Fox,” I began, trying to find the right words, wondering how to explain in simple terms how lonely I sometimes felt, and how my entire world had been so wrapped up in Briggs that I’d lost sight of who I was. “He’s a friend, and I could really do with some friends.”
Fox looked at me, his expression showing he was trying to process this new information. I could see him working through it, trying to reconcile his view of Chris as a teacher with the idea of him being a person outside of the school environment.
“I guess it’s not too weird.”
“Having Chris as a friend isn’t going to change anything for you at school,” I reassured him. “Whatever happens.”
“Do you like him?”
“Sure.”
“I meanlike himlike him,” Fox met my gaze—it didn’t seem to faze him I mightlikeChris.
“Maybe?”
He took a moment before nodding, a sign that he was trying to understand, and then he hugged me briefly. “Okay, Dad.”
He headed to his room. I ended up in the diner, right at the back in the hidden corner, nursing hot chocolate and nibbling on a test cookie, staring down at an empty page of notes. I had fourteen weeks to bring the best stall of the Spring Rains Festival, less because Maggie had pulled me aside at the end and said they’d give me a little while and then pop in for my final ideas. The concept of Maggie popping in didn’t sit right—she was a master planner, and I bet I was already in her diary.
One thing I learned tonight, as I couldn’t focus on the diner and spent way too long imagining kissing my new friend Chris, was that falling asleep face down in a notebook was freaking uncomfortable.
* * *
I thoughtthere would be days, maybe even a week, before Chris and I had that coffee he’d asked me about. So, it was a surprise when, just after school let out the day after the festival meeting, there was a knock at the diner door. I was in the kitchen, and it was Fox who answered.
“Hello, Mr. Sheridan,” I heard Fox say, his tone one of innocent curiosity. I heard the smile in his voice, and it made me feel lighter. At least he wasn’t reacting with hostility at me having a friend in for coffee. “Are you here for Dad?”
“Hey, Fox. Yeah, I thought I’d take him up on that offer for coffee.”
I wiped my hands on a towel and walked towards the front door, a mix of nerves and excitement building inside me. Seeing Chris in his chair, just inside the threshold, felt surreal.
“If he’s still up for it, of course,” Chris continued, glancing past Fox to me with a smile that seemed a bit uncertain, but genuine.
