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Her eyes widened, darting down to the cup. “You got me a latte?”
Luke tilted his head, chagrined. “I thought I remembered it was what you liked, but that was a while ago. If you want me to get you something else—”
Wrapping her hands around the warm cup, she shook her head vehemently, hating just how thrilled she was over his thoughtfulness. “This is great.” To prove her point, she brought it to her lips and took a sip. Then her eyes landed on the object she thought had been a mug.
She’d been right, but not entirely so.
The ceramic mug had the words,Being a teacher is easy, in big, bold letters. Beneath that statement the words continued but smaller. She cocked her head slightly, her eyes narrowing as she read the rest out loud. “It’s like riding a bike. Except the bike is on fire. You’re on fire. Everything… is… on… fire.” Her eyes lifted to Luke and she smirked. “Nice mug.”
Luke jumped and reached for the mug she only now realized was filled with pens. He shoved the mug at her, a cheesy grin on his face. “These are for you.”
Allie stared at the mug. “Pens,” she said blankly.
“You know, because of the chipmunk who teaches down the hall from you?”
She blinked and a sharp laugh escaped her lips. “You mean Kate—the teacher who steals all my pens.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
If the latte was thoughtful, this mug with its variety of pens took the cake. She laughed again. “Thank you, this is really sweet.”
“Sweet enough to make you forgive me for overstepping last night?”
Just like that, the warm fuzzy feeling evaporated. Luke was sweet, but he was sweet to everyone. This wasn’t because he liked her, it was because he felt guilty.
Allie sighed. “Yeah, I guess. But you know what? You really don’t have to be worried about Molly. She’s not really causing any trouble. Honestly, I think the problem is that she’s not being challenged enough. Kids get that way, you know. When tasks are too easy, they find other ways to fill their time. And sometimes grades will slip because they’re not interested.” She took another sip of her latte and set a firm gaze on Luke. “Maybe what needs to happen is some additional work. I could see what I can do about getting her an extra workbook. Or you might look into some chapter books she could read when she’s done with her homework.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Luke mused. “I never thought of that.”
“Molly is very bright. She does need to be reading at home—she truly does love to read. Don’t wait for her to ask about that. Every assignment she turns in rarely has mistakes—at least since we had our first meeting. Whatever talk you had with her seemed to help greatly.”
Luke seemed pleased with that statement, his warm smile lighting a fire within her once more. Allie looked away, setting her focus on her cup in her hands.
“You know,” she murmured, “I really appreciate how involved you are. But if I were to make a suggestion…” She lifted her head to meet his gaze, not surprised to see him hanging on her every word. “Let her fail.”
His head reared back. “Isn’t that counterintuitive? I send her to school to succeed.”
“Of course you do. You want her to succeed, but failing can make her stronger. Everyone has to learn what it’s like to fail.”
Luke’s brows furrowed. “I’m sorry, but that’s not making much sense.”
“Okay, think of it this way. You’re at the gym. You have a spotter, right?”
“Sure.”
“What if every time you got out the weights, your spotter held ten percent of that weight for you? Yes, over time you’d still put on more muscle and you’d improve, but one day your spotter changes and that one doesn’t do the same thing. You won’t be prepared to handle the additional ten percent when it’s a percentage of a higher number. The bar might not kill you, but you could be seriously hurt.”
Luke frowned but she could see the wheels turning in his head.
“Molly needs to know her own limitations. If we’re there constantly trying to prevent her failing, she can’t learn from it. She can’t grow and adjust for future failures. Right now, you’re available. You’re here to pull her to her feet. When she goes to college? Who will be there to catch her then?”
This time he nodded. “I guess you’re right.”
She smiled, reaching across the table to touch his hand but then stopped herself and withdrew. “We’ll keep an eye on her. She’ll be fine.” Allie glanced around the coffee shop, then moved to gather her things, “If that’s everything—”
“Actually, I was thinking about getting a cookie or something. Would you like to split one? They’re pretty big here.”
Allie hesitated. More time with him meant more problems.
