Chapter 6
Mike wasn’t actually trying to make Sadie feel better when she said Michaela loved the book fair. Michaela woke him up at seven and made them leave early, even though Mike patiently explained that they were opening the place up, so it was actually impossible for anyone to get in before them.
Still, Mike was sitting outside with Michaela in his lap, letting his kid read to him. He didn’t even notice that Sadie was there until she cleared her throat and Mike looked up to see her standing back, watching them with warm amusement.
Mike had never seen her so smart casual before and seeing her in a soft sweater and jeans was almost too much to handle. She had a pair of glasses on too, and Mike really just wanted to push her up against the wall and do things he shouldn’t think of with Michaela sitting in his lap.
“Morning,” said Sadie.
“Hi, Ms. Alexander!” said Michaela, grinning. A confused look crossed her face. “Why are you wearing glasses?”
Mike poked her in the side. “Michaela,” he said. “Rude.”
“Nah,” said Sadie, “it’s fine.” She crouched down so she was at Michaela and Mike’s level. “You know what contact lenses are?”
“Yeah,” said Michaela.
“I wear contact lenses over the week, because that’s easier for school. I don’t have to worry about them getting broken or anything. But I have really sensitive eyes, so I wear glasses on the weekend to give them a break.”
“Is it hard to wear contact lenses?”
“No, but it could make your eyes dry out.” She got up. “You guys want to go in?”
“Dad said I could see all the books before anyone else!” said Michaela. “Is that true?”
“Yeah,” said Sadie. “Your dad’s helping me out, so you get special privileges.”
Mike pushed Michaela to her feet and then hauled himself up as Sadie unlocked the door. Michaela charged into the gym like it was a candy store, and Mike laughed.
“Where are you gonna be?” he asked. “Pick a section.”
Michaela looked around, thinking hard. “Sixth grade,” she decided.
Mike nodded. “You got your notepad?”
“Yes, dad.”
“Okay. If you have an emergency words, you could come find us setting up.”
“I’ll be fine, dad,” said Michaela, rolling her eyes. She ran off and started browsing, and Mike turned back to Sadie with a nervous smile.
“She writes down the words she doesn’t know,” Mike explained. “She guesses what they mean. If she has no idea and needed to know to understand, it’s an emergency word and she can come ask me.”
Sadie looked amused. “I know. She does the same thing in class.”
“Sorry about that. If it bothers you–“
Sadie handed him a lock-box. “Are you kidding? Seriously, there’s no such thing as teaching your kid problem-solving too soon.”
Mike laughed. “I wish it was that noble. I just needed to make sure I had time to work. So I told her it could be like a game, and every hour she could come check with me.”
“Hey, whatever works,” said Sadie. “Okay, prices. This was really simple. It’s all color-coded. Just look at the spine, match the color of the dot to the price, and add it up. You got a calculator and a box of cash. No cards, checks are okay but we need a phone number and an ID with them. All the proceeds go to the school.”
Mike nodded. “I am pretty familiar with this from the other side.” He glanced over at Sadie. “Though last year we were in Chicago.” And he knew, if Sadie had been there, he would have noticed her.
“This is actually our first year as a school to participate,” said Sadie, grabbing a folded table from against the wall.
Mike immediately went to help. “Really?”
“Yeah it’s been a long slow haul getting the school where I wanted it to be but I think we’re getting there at last.”
“How do you like it?”
Sadie shrugged. “Okay. Being the head teacher and a class teacher means my social life is like nil, but I will admit it’s not like I try very hard. If it wasn’t for my friends I’d be a hermit. But the kids are great.”
“I hear you on the social life. My idea of an exciting Friday night is watching Disney movies with my kid.”
Sadie passed him a chair. “Sounds pretty awesome to me.”
“Yeah, but she likes the lame ones.”
Sadie laughed–she’s got a great laugh. “Like The Little Mermaid?”
“I love that one!”
“I think she might be the one with good taste.”
“Shut up,” said Mike, but he was smiling.
“How old was she when she started reading?” asked Sadie, glancing over as Michaela settled down with one of the books.
“Three,” said Mike. “She was a toddler while I was in theology school and I used to carry her on my lap while studying. So once she started talking, she started getting curious, asking me what the words were, and we went from there.”
Sadie nodded. “It must have been a real paradigm shift for you. Theology school?”
“Yeah, it was a trip.”
Sadie looked like she was about to say something else, but then a voice interrupted them. “I guess you really didn’t need my help.”
Mike looked over at the tall man walking towards them. He was good looking with red hair, killer smile, long legs. Sadie smiled ruefully as he came over.
“I told you I didn’t,” she said.
“I thought you might just be lying because you felt bad asking me to come.”
Sadie laughed and shook her head. Mike felt jealous, which was dumb, because Sadie was his kid’s teacher, and he had no claim to her at all.
The man turned to Mike and looked him up and down. “Hi,” he said, sounding amused.
Mike got to his feet and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Mike, you must be Sadie’s boyfriend.”
The man laughed. “Please, Sadie couldn’t be more single if she tried.”
“Parent,” Sadie hissed. Mike barely heard it over the roar in his ears. Because Sadie was single. Sadie turned to Mike, flushing, gorgeous, and Mike knew it would be completely inappropriate to kiss her. “Um, he and my l-late husband were friends. He thinks it’s his job to take care of me and he’s Drew’s father as well.
“That’s…nice,” Mike managed to say, which was better than will you marry me?
“Anyway,” said the man, sounding amused. “I’m Lloyd.”