“She just showed you the marks on her back. That looks pretty physical to me.”

“But I have no idea how they got there. Maybe she poked first, because what she’s saying goes against everything I’ve heard so far.”

Ted caught Alexa’s eye. “Lex, could you wait outside and let your mother and me have a few words with Mrs. Vaughn alone?”

After the door closed, he lowered his voice so she couldn’t hear him in the anteroom. “I’m sorry to learn that you condone bullying here, Mrs. Vaughn. With my mother being a principal herself, I expected more from you and our school system.”

She drew herself up taller. “I don’t...condone bullying, Mr. Dixon!”

“Then why are you punishing the victim instead of the perpetrator?”

“Consequences follow behavior. One child struck another, and now she must face the consequences.”

“It doesn’t matter to you that the child you’re suspending is the one who was first teased, poked and tormented?”

Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t answer.

“I believe I’ve committed a sizeable amount to funding the new gymnasium. As disappointed as I am in the way this school is being run, however, I’m afraid I’ll have to withdraw my support from that project.” He motioned to Sophia. “Let’s go.”

Mrs. Vaughn hurried around her desk. “You’d penalize the kids for something you feel I’ve done?”

“Why not? You’re penalizing Alexa for something Connie did.”

“But we’ve already lost the money Mr. DeBussi pledged to the project!”

“That explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

They glared at each other for several seconds, until she lowered her gaze. “I apologize if you feel I’ve been unfair.”

“I don’t feel anything. I’m convinced of it.” Whether she’d acted consciously or not, she’d known that Sophia was in no position to defend her daughter. In his opinion, Mrs. Vaughn thought she’d be able to get away with punishing Sophia and Alexa for Skip’s sins, just like Chief Stacy seemed eager to do.

“What do you suggest as a more fitting punishment?” she asked grudgingly.

“You assigned Connie detention. Maybe Alexa should have the same.” Ted turned to Sophia. “Don’t you agree?”

She nodded.

“I don’t mind telling you that it’s a mistake to keep rescuing a child,” Mrs. Vaughn said, her voice and demeanor full of reproach. “It teaches the wrong principles.”

Ted straightened the nameplate at the edge of her desk. “Didn’t you admit to me that this is the first time Alexa has ever been in trouble?”

She didn’t reply to that question. With a sigh, she wadded up the sheet she had ready for Sophia to sign and threw it in the wastebasket. “Fine. She’ll serve detention for five days after school, starting tomorrow. But it’s not my fault that she’ll be doing it with Connie. And I will not tolerate either one of them acting out again.”

“Will a teacher be present at all times?” Sophia asked. “I don’t want her left alone with that girl ever again.”

It was easy to see that Mrs. Vaughn was loath to reassure her. She preferred to insist that the way she’d chosen to handle the situation would’ve been better. But Ted wasn’t about to back off. He was tired of the prejudice and injustice that’d been heaped upon Sophia, and he was angry that everyone else’s reaction to what Skip had done kept drawing him into her life. He wouldn’t have gotten involved with one of his best friends if not for Sophia. But he didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want to feel any regret because it was too late to change anything.

“There will be a teacher,” the principal said.

Sophia lifted her chin. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Vaughn followed them into the reception area, where they waited for Alexa to retrieve her backpack. “Does this mean we can count on you to help with the gymnasium?” she asked.

Ted could see Alexa in the principal’s office, wiping her eyes before pulling her backpack over one shoulder. “We’ll see how school goes this coming week,” he replied. “As long as Alexa remains safe, I’m happy to donate.”

Her lips pursed. “So...are you and Mrs. DeBussi...seeing each other?”

She was still perplexed as to why he was there, was trying to put it into some sort of context. “No, Mrs. DeBussi is working for me.”

“Since when?”

He pretended not to hear her. Alexa joined them at that moment, and they walked out.

“Thanks for your help,” Sophia murmured as they navigated the front steps.

He didn’t respond to that, either. He was drifting closer and closer to her; he could feel it. But he didn’t know how to stop what was happening between them. Being with her, standing up for her, felt too damn...natural.

17

“Once you drop me off, you can head home,” Ted told Sophia as he drove them back to his place. He probably should’ve let Sophia take the wheel. The Mercedes was, after all, her car—until the repo company took possession of it, anyway—but driving gave him something to concentrate on besides his new housekeeper and her daughter.

“I’ll finish that project you gave me first,” Sophia said. “And make dinner. Alexa can do her homework. We were planning to have her come over after school, anyway, so nothing’s changed.”

“Except that it’s been a rough day for both of you. Why don’t you go home and recoup?” He hoped to convince her, especially because he needed to do the same, needed to get her out of his system before Eve picked him up. The last thing he wanted was to be thinking of Sophia the whole time he was trying to talk himself into loving the person he’d chosen to pursue.

“No, I’ll finish out the day. I don’t want you to feel my problems are taking a toll on my work.”

“I don’t mind.”

She raised a hand. “Please, I need to finish...for me, if not for you.”

“Right. Okay.”

“I have to do my part,” she explained. “I hope you understand.”

“I do. And I appreciate that,” he said, but when they went into the house so she could get Alexa set up at the kitchen table, he saw her lunch and knew she was trying too hard. When she’d brought up his tray and he’d waylaid her without realizing she hadn’t eaten, she’d never said a word.

She should’ve spoken up.

“Get started with your math,” she told Lex. “I’ll be up in the office for a while, but I’ll come down and see how you’re getting along when I make dinner.”

“This is a cool place,” Alexa breathed as she put her backpack on the floor. “I really like it.”

Ted smiled. Lex seemed pretty damn sweet and down-to-earth for being Skip’s only child.

She sent him a shy glance. “You’re the author, right? I’ve seen your name. My mom reads your books all the time. She loves them.”

Sophia tried to duck out of the room and head upstairs, but Ted cut her off before she could reach the door. “Oh, no, you don’t.” He pointed at her waiting sandwich. “You might want to throw that away since it’s been sitting out for so long, but you need to eat something before you return to work.”

“I’m sure my sandwich is fine,” she said and nuked it before taking it up with her.

Ted sat at the table across from Alexa, who was busy getting out her books. “What kind of homework do you have? Just math?”

“I wish,” she said. “I’ve got social studies and English, too. Tons of English.” She made a face. “I have to write a persuasive essay.”

“Believe it or not, I hated English homework when I was a kid, too.”

“And you turned out to be a writer?”

“It’s a lot more fun when you get to decide what to write.” Sophia hadn’t offered her daughter an after-school snack; she was probably worried that would make her appear too free with his food. “Would you like some cookies and milk before you get to work?”

“Sure, if...if that’s okay.” She checked the doorway as if she expected her mother to pop in and tell her whether she was allowed to accept his offer.