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Breaking our connection, I leaned my forehead on hers and confessed like I did all those years ago: “Hannah Hall, whether you like it or not, I still love you. I’m going to win your heart back. I’m just stepping up to the plate. As you know, striking out is never an option.”
“Baseball metaphors?”
“Whatever works. You and me, Hannah. You’ll see.”
Chapter20
Hannah
“He loves you?”
Mia’s surprised expression mirrored my feelings on the topic. We nodded at a few colleagues as we made our way to our classrooms. The students would be arriving soon, and the solitude of the quiet halls would change into loud chatter and the opening and closing of lockers.
“That’s what he said.”
“Why does it sound as though you don’t believe him?”
Giving her a quick glance and seeing the optimism on her face, I answered the best way I knew how. “It’s too fast. I think he feels guilty about what his dad and assistant did. I think that if he truly loved me, he would have come for me all those years ago, but he didn’t.”
“In his defense, he thought you were with Rob.”
“Thought. Not know. Meanwhile, he was with models, an actress or three, and who knows who else. That doesn’t sound like a man in love.”
“No, it just sounds like a man. Although I know women who would do the same.” We turned the corner toward my room. “Did you stop loving him?”
“I had to. Call it self-preservation. And I did go after him. But that’s not all of it.”
I unlocked my door and flipped up the light switch. Individual workstations, each equipped with paintbrushes, pencils, charcoal, and an assortment of paints, pastels, and markers, made me smile. When I was a student, this was my place of solace, and it still was, even though I was the one in charge.
Putting my purse in the bottom drawer of my desk, I turned and looked at Mia. “He’s moving here. Or so he says.”
Her eyes widened. “I knew he would! What about his job?”
I explained what Cash told me about that. He seemed to have everything figured out, whereas I was still so confused.
“Jimmy loves Cash. Instantly. And I’m glad he’s moving here for his sake.”
The sound of students’ chatter and lockers opening in the hallway was the telltale sign that our day was about to begin. No one had art for homeroom, so I had a little more time. But Mia needed to get to her room.
“I know I’ve said this before, but maybe you should give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s clear that he’s trying to make amends. You were both dealt a shitty hand. You were both lied to. Maybe Cash is right, and you can get back what you once had.” The first bell rang. “I need to go. Thanks to the end of the year being around the corner, my students have turned into feral animals. They’ve been throwing pencils in the air, trying to get them to stick in the ceiling.”
I laughed but knew what she meant.
“Don’t even ask me how many times the boys have drawn penises on their homework. They’re obsessed with that body part. The other day one kid made a slingshot out of highlighters and a condom.”
Condoms ... it made me think of that conversation with Jimmy and Cash.
“Didn’t even care when Annie Higgins walked in and got hit with a wad of paper. She unfolded it, took one look at it and the drawing of a dick, and asked, ‘Are they always that small?’ It was the funniest thing.”
Good old Mrs. Higgins. End-of-the-year energy was no joke. Thankfully my kids weren’t like that. My class was an outlet for all that pent-up energy.
“Anyway, promise me you’ll think about what Cash said.”
“Fine, I’ll think about it.”
“Good girl. And with a man like Cash, Pinky won’t need as many batteries.”
Before I could stop myself, I blurted, “He said he’d like to use it on me.”
