Sadie swallowed. It was one thing to have heard about his former lifestyle; it was another to hear him talk about it to her. She wanted to ask more questions but at the same time, she didn’t want to know.
She realized she needed to say something to all this, but she didn’t quite know what. “I’m not sure if sorry was the right response here,” she said, giving Mike a small smile. “You’ve got a great kid.”
Mike smiled back, much stronger. “The greatest, thank you Jesus. And – yeah, I’m not sorry, you know? I love her, and I’m happy.”
Sadie nodded. “Well, we’d love to have you on the field trip. I could always use more chaperones.”
“Yeah, no, I love the zoo,” said Mike. “Any time you need help for this kind of thing, you can count me in. Always happy to be of service.”
Sadie bites her lip. “You mean that?”
“Yeah, why?”
Sadie rubbed the back of her neck. “We’ve got the book fair next week, I’m organizing. We had some last minute cancellations for the weekend, and I needed some help with the selling. It’s pretty boring, but–“
“Girl, are you kidding?” said Mike. “Michaela makes me come to those for hours anyway. It’s like her idea of heaven. If I could help out while I’m around, that’s great. We were already gonna be here for most of Saturday, so just tell me when you want me.”
The most honest response to that was Right now, in the coat room if necessary, but Sadie thought that really wouldn’t be appropriate, so she told Mike ten a.m. on Saturday, if it wasn’t too early.
“Doors open at nine, right?” asked Mike.
“Yeah, but I don’t wanna make you–“
Mike waved his hand. “You underestimate my kid. She thinks it’s like concert tickets. She asked if we needed to spend the night to get a really good spot in line. She’ll wake me up at six and try to get me there as soon as I’ve had my first cup of coffee.”
Sadie laughed. “If you wanted to help me open up, I could probably get you in early.”
“Advance tickets? She’d love you forever.” Mike grinned. “I could definitely be there to help you open.”
“Eight-thirty okay?”
“Yeah, definitely. We’ll be there.”
“Daaaaad,” Michaela called. “I want to show you my book!”
Mike smiled apologetically. “You mind if I stick around and let her read to me? I swear, I’ll be out of your hair as soon as another kid shows up.”
“Yeah, no, go ahead. No problem.”
Sadie failed utterly at doing any of the stuff she was planning to do before class. Every time she tried, she heard Michaela’s careful enunciation or Mike’s earnest questions about plots and characters, and instead of working, she just smiled so hard her face hurt.