I stood, scooping her into my arms and breathing in the sweet scent of her shampoo. In that moment, the weight of my decision crashed over me, a tidal wave of doubt and fear. “Yeah,princesa. We’re going home.”
Elena watched us, her eyes sad. “Remember your first day in Blanco Springs? You brimmed with hope. Don’t let a single mistake undo all your hard work. Think about it, for Mia’s sake.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Mia nuzzled into my neck, her small body a comfortable pressure against me as I carried her out to the truck.
We drove away, and I thought about what Elena said. Maybe she was right. Running wasn’t the answer. But what else could I do?
I glanced at Mia in the rearview mirror, her eyelids already drooping as the motion of the car lulled her back to sleep. I had to do what was best for her, even if we had to leave behind everything we had built here in Blanco Springs.
Even if I had to walk away from the man who had made me believe in love again.
Chapter Fifteen
Ken
Reheated lasagna lingered the air of the teacher lunchroom, mingling with the murmur of subdued conversations. I stabbed at my limp chopped salad, each forkful a chore. Across from me, Stella’s typical bright smile faltered, her eyes darkening with every heated word drifting over from Nancy’s table.
“It’s absolutely disgraceful,” Nancy huffed to one of the PE coaches, stabbing an accusatory finger at her phone screen. “That man, cavorting about naked on that vulgar website.”
I winced, my stomach twisting into knots. Since the now-deleted post appeared five days ago, school gossip that centered on Marc and his videos—also now deleted—had started to wane.
But that hadn’t stopped some of my more unpleasant colleagues from keeping the conversations going. The callousness in Nancy’s voice made my skin crawl. A chill ran up my spine, and my grip on the fork tightened. Stella noticed, her eyes tracing my gaze to Nancy’s gossiping group.
“Ugh, can you believe it?” another teacher chimed in. “And he was a parent volunteer, working with the kids in the garden during our Spring Fling. Shameful.”
“Exactly!” Nancy agreed. “It’s disgusting. People like him shouldn’t even be around children.”
People like him.
My heart thudded in my chest, anger and dread coursing through me.
It had been a hellish week, each day a struggle to maintain my composure in the face of relentless gossip and rumors. The pain of Marc breaking up with me still felt raw, a constant ache in my chest that intensified with every cruel word I overheard about him. I missed him desperately, and the thought that I might never hold him again, never see Mia’s bright smile in my classroom, was as unbearable as the idea that he was going through this alone.
Every nasty comment about Marc was a personal attack, not just on him but on the relationship we’d shared, however brief it had been. The double burden of nursing my broken heart while defending Marc’s character in silence was wearing me down, leaving me exhausted and on edge.
I didn’t know if it was paranoia or not, but each whisper and murmur I overheard, every sideways glance and stolen look aimed at me felt pointed, accusatory.
Each muscle in my body coiled like a spring, anticipating confrontation.
“Don’t let her get to you,” Stella murmured in a low voice, reaching over to touch my arm. “Marc is a good man. Their opinion is trash,” she added, narrowing her eyes at them.
The lounge door swung open and Natalie, our school nurse, strode in, heading for the fridge. She waved at our table as she pulled out her lunch bag and heated up her frozen lunch.
Natalie’s lighthearted smile dissolved, her face hardening as she focused on Nancy and her table, still chatting overly loud about Marc. Her eyes flashed with indignation as she turned on them. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” she snapped. “Nancy,you’re out of line. That man’s personal life is none of our business.”
Nancy’s mouth fell open, her face reddening. “Excuse me? I’m simply expressing concern for the welfare of our students—”
“No, you’re expressing ignorance and intolerance,” Natalie cut her off. She planted her hands on her hips. “Marc Mendez is a good man who loves his daughter more than anything. What he did in the past to make ends meet is none of your business.”
From our table, Stella raised her voice, joining the fray. “Natalie’s right. We’re educators, for Christ’s sake. We’re supposed to teach respect and understanding to our students. How can we do that if we don’t practice what we preach?”
Nancy glowered at them, her lips pressed into a thin line. The room crackled with tension, like a live wire.
Gratitude welled up in me for Stella and Natalie’s unwavering support. I needed to speak up, to add my voice to theirs in defense of Marc.Say something, Ken.
My fists clenched under the table, the words stuck in my throat.
“Those people…” Nancy spat out, looking directly at me, “they’re nothing but trouble. They don’t belong here.”
