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“Thank you,” I said after retrieving my phone from the mom.
We mingled with some of the other families until it was time for the moms to go and the girls to get back to class.
“Thank you for coming, Ms. Cam!” Skye said while hugging me.
“Thank you for my coffee mug. None of the other girls had that!” Fee said.
“You both are very welcome! I had fun and I got so full off muffins! I will see you later, okay?”
They both got into their lines for their classes and filed out of the cafeteria. I collected their cups and headed out of the building with an overwhelming feeling of pride. It may have been a misplaced feeling of pride since they were not my kids, but I decided to roll with the feeling for a while.
Morris
My early morning meeting with the Abernathys went longer than I’d anticipated. Today was theMuffins with Momsevent at the girls’ school, and Bee hadn’t reached out to indicate that she would be back in town to attend. She hadn’t been back to St. Louis since she’d moved over a month ago. I didn’t want the girls to be there alone, so I’d planned on stopping by the school for the event.
I looked at my watch as I jogged to my truck. It was a little before ten, and the breakfast started at nine. I hoped to get there before everything was over. I raced down the highway and through the neighborhood to get to their school.
I rushed through the front doors and straight to the main office to get a visitor’s pass.
“Good morning, Mr. Owens. Are you here to pick up the girls?” Ms. Patrick asked.
“No, I figured that their mother wouldn’t make the event, and I didn’t want them to be alone,” I replied.
“Well, the event is basically over, but you are more than welcome to go into the cafeteria, that’s where it’s being held,” Ms. Patrick said.
She passed me a visitor’s sticker to place on my jacket. I followed the hallway to the cafeteria. Standing at the door, I skimmed the room for my girls. I figured they would be sitting with the principal or their teachers. I noticed a familiar platinum-blonde head among the crowd.
What is Cam doing here?She smiled at waved at Skye and Fee as they lined up behind their teachers. The girls were led out of the opposite side of the cafeteria. The moms left out of the door behind them. Neither the girls nor Cam noticed me.
I walked back to the parking lot and waited by my truck until Cam appeared from the other side of the building. She was laughing and talking to Sallie before they parted ways at the curb, and Cam walked to her car, carrying some papers and a small gift bag.
“Hey,” I said, meeting her at her car.
She jumped and sucked in a lungful of air.
“MORRIS! You scared me!”
“I wasn’t trying to scare you, sorry.”
“Well, put some bells on your ears or something, geezuz! What are you, part ninja?”
I probably would’ve laughed if I wasn’t trying to keep my temper in check. She didn’t ask me if she could do anything with my girls, especially attend something at their school that their mother was supposed to attend. It wasn’t like we weren’t friends, but even friends had boundaries. She shouldn’t have been anywhere near my kids without asking me first.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was at theMuffins with Momsthing with the girls,” she answered.
“Why?”
“Because…” she paused after examining my face, “are you upset?”
“I’m confused. Why are you here?”
“I came because Skye called me this morning and said that Beatrice was not going to make it. She asked me if I would come. I sent you a text and I called, but Anna said you were in a meeting and had probably turned your phone off. I made a judgment call and came.”
“I didn’t get any text mess…” I paused and reached into my pocket. I realized that I hadn’t turned my phone back on after I left the meeting. As soon as it powered on, I received several text messages back to back.
Skye called and asked if I would come to the school forMuffins with Moms. She said Beatrice is not going to make it. – Cam
