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Luke sighed. “It’s not what you think. I need to talk to her about Molly.”
“Then wait until Monday.” Pippa’s voice normalized. “Just because you knew her before she was Molly’s teacher doesn’t mean you can call her whenever you want and make demands. What happened to being friends first?”
Her words were like a dagger to the chest. She was right. He would need to stop treating her like a friend and more like an educational professional.
And he’d start after tonight.
“Just give it to me, Pippa.”
Another silence.
“I’m not going to abuse it. I swear. I’ll just touch base with her on something and that’ll be it.”
He knew he’d won this battle when he heard her sigh. “Fine. But if she tells me that you’re abusing your connection to her, then I’m gonna—”
“You’re gonna what?” He bit back a smile. “There’s nothing much you can do, is there?”
“I don’t know, but it’ll be good.”
“Are you going to send me that phone number or not?” Luke glanced at his watch. “I know it’s a Friday night and all, but I’d prefer not to call too late.”
His phone beeped and the line went dead.
“Pippa? Hello?”
Just as he pulled his phone from his ear to see if the call had been dropped, a text message came through.
Pippa:Here’s her number. Don’t make me regret this.
Luke grinned.He didn’t bother texting her back, he just tapped the contact card that came through.
The phone rang a few times then she picked up.
“Hello?”
“Allie?”
“Yes…”
He strode toward the window and stared out at the darkness. “Um, hey. It’s Luke.”
There was some stunned silence—or at least that’s what it felt like.
Luke rubbed the back of his neck as heat emanated from it. He didn’t know why he was embarrassed. He had every right to speak to his daughter’s teacher—perhaps not on a Friday night though. “I wanted to talk to you about Molly.”
“Oh.”
Was that disappointment in her voice? Or maybe it was annoyance. His jaw tightened, suddenly feeling just as annoyed in himself. “She told me you split her up from her friend.”
“Oh.”
There was that word again. Boy, this was far more awkward than he had expected it to be. He cleared his throat again, forcing himself to get the courage needed to just say what he was going to say. “I wanted to talk to you about that because I feel like we didn’t land on the same page at the last parent teacher conference. I just… I just wish you would have let me know.”
“What? Are you telling me you want me to call you with every little thing that happens in my classroom?” There was definitely some defensiveness to her tone this time. “Is that why you called me on a Friday night?”
He cleared his throat again. “No… well, yeah… but…” Luke blew out a sharp breath. “I’m not explaining myself very well. Maybe we could meet in person to discuss my expectations for when Molly isn’t following the rules.”
There was more silence, then she finally said, “I can meet with you tomorrow.”
