Page 15 of Bride Games

15

A fter Lucy tried on three outfits—again—for the first day of school, Emma finally got her daughter to decide on a pink ruffled skirt, white tee with a purple unicorn, and her pink and white light-up shoes. She watched Lucy stuff her feet inside her shoes and adeptly fasten the Velcro ? straps. Thank goodness for Velcro. Emma wasn’t sure how moms ever got their kids to school on time when they first learned to tie their shoes.

“Lucy, eat some strawberries while I make cinnamon toast.” Emma reached into the fridge. “Here’s a peach yogurt.” She refilled her coffee as she watched Lucy nibble in painstaking slow motion. Emma glanced at the clock on the microwave and grabbed her daughter’s pink backpack. “Luce, you don’t want to be late on the first day. Let’s go.”

“O-tay, Mommy.”

They both piled into Emma’s car and she drove to Appledale Elementary on autopilot. The line of cars was unusually long, likely since it was the first day and everyone wanted to meet their teachers and see which students were in their class. Emma got in the queue of drivers and turned toward her daughter. “Want me to find a parking space and walk you inside?”

“No, I’m a big girl now.”

“That’s right, first grader.” Emma handed Lucy her backpack and said, “I’ll be here after school. Have fun today, honey. I love you.”

“I wuv you too.” Lucy unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the back door. She hopped onto the sidewalk and blew Emma a kiss.

Emma inched forward slowly so she could watch her daughter go inside. She spotted Grace, Lucy’s best friend, and grinned as they skipped and held hands. “Oh, good. The day is already seamless.”

Back at the house, Emma wondered why Eli had been so sly about his first day. He taught at the school across town since he stealthily quit teaching at Appledale last year so they could date. Emma still blushed remembering how she had volunteered for every single activity in his classroom. Thank goodness it had all worked out.

She made more coffee and checked to see if any authors had contacted her to make promotional marketing materials. After a surprising write-up in a literary magazine for her tiny Etsy company, Page-Turning Swag, Emma had been overwhelmed for several weeks by new authors who wanted swag, and fast. She wasn’t quite caught up but the extra money was going to come in handy for their upcoming nuptials.

Her phone rang. “Page-Turning Swag, this is Emma.”

“This is Dr. Ryder, the principal of Appledale. Are you Emma Miller, Lucy’s mom?”

“Yes.” Emma felt her heart stop. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Just a little upset—okay, a lot upset—that she has been separated from her friend Grace. It seems they’re in different classrooms.”

Emma winced. “She loves Grace. They’re best friends.”

“So I gather. Lucy had quite the meltdown in Mrs. O’Connor’s class.”

Emma rubbed her forehead with her free hand. “What class is Grace in?”

“Miss Ainsley’s.”

Emma stared out the window while she weighed this predicament. She spotted Mrs. Roberts watering her flowers. “I thought Miss Ainsley taught kindergarten. She replaced Eli—Mr. Hansen—last year.”

“True. We’ve had some abrupt changes with our scheduling. Miss Ainsley is now teaching first grade.”

Running her fingers through her hair, Emma said, “I’ll talk to Lucy tonight unless I need to pick her up now.”

“No, we’ve got it under control. I asked the teachers to let Lucy and Grace eat lunch together. Maybe that’ll assuage her.”

“Perfect. Thank you.” After they hung up, Emma stared at the phone. She wished she could ask Eli for suggestions. He was great with kid-type solutions but she didn’t want to interrupt his first day back. Standing to stretch, Emma stared at the time. She’d have to wait several more hours to talk to Lucy. She decided to take a long walk to try to think of something to cheer up her little girl.