Page 97 of The Professor's Wife

But she didn’t have to bring this to me now, right before I was about to leave on a weekend getaway with the man. She could have let me have this moment. This adventure with him. This one good thing in my life.

Tears slipped from my eyes as I busied myself. In the middle of adding a book to the packed bag, I heard that familiar deep voice in the air. It was so out of the blue, I didn’t have time to recover.

I blinked up and saw him come through the door. Rowe had let him in, though I hadn’t heard him knock. Oliver patted his head, laughing at whatever Rowe was saying.

Then he looked up, and his gaze caught mine.

He stilled, and his happy expression vanished. “Daisy?”

I offered him a wobbly smile. “I didn’t hear you knock.”

“He knocked forever,” Rowe exclaimed, and then he took Oliver by the hand and tugged. “Want to see the tower I builded?”

Oliver’s expression warmed as he looked down at Rowe. “I would love to see it after I speak to your mom for a few minutes.”

The second Rowe returned to his toys, Oliver was in front of me. “What happened, Daisy?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing, Oliver. I promise.”

He frowned, and his hand grabbed mine, squeezing gently. I looked back up at him.

“It’s not nothing.”

“Just something my sister said, but she didn’t mean anything by it.”

Except I wasn’t certain of that.

Oliver didn’t respond, but I felt his gaze on me as I finished packing. He helped me gather Rowe and then paused outside my bedroom.

When I turned to look at him, I saw June standing outside her room, looking straight at me. She looked sorrowful.

“Daisy…” My name hung in the air.

I frowned. “I’ll see you later, June—”

“Can we talk?”

“No,” I bit out. “I don’t want to talk right now.”

“Please, Daisy, let me explain—”

“You said enough, June—”

“Calm down, ladies,” Oliver cut in, physically coming between us. He looked back and forth between us, his brows pinched together. “Let’s take a breather, and we can sort this out.”

My eyes were still filled with tears when I looked at him. “Please, Oliver, I don’t want to talk to her right now.”

His lips pinched together, and he drew closer to me. He lowered his head and whispered, “Then let me do the talking for you. Take Rowe down to the car. Keep him chirpy and excited.”

With that, he handed the keys to me. “I’ll grab your bags.”

I gave him a grateful smile.

“There she is,” he murmured, brushing his thumb beneath my eye.

The words soothed something raw inside me. I picked up Rowe and darted out of the apartment.

I threw one final look over my shoulder. Oliver was speaking quietly to June, and she was staring up at him with tears in her eyes.