Page 10 of Hearts and Hidden Secrets

Della

I was so getting fired.

But did the threat of unemployment keep me from walking to Jeff’s table? No. No, it did not.

On the drive to the pizza parlor, I’d rationalized this a hundred different ways.

It wasn’t a date but an accidental encounter, right?

I’d come for pizza and just happened to bump into a student and her father.

This was a coincidence—technically, Jeff hadn’t even invited me.

And it would be rude to ignore them when we were all, inadvertently, at the same restaurant.

He’d simply mentioned his plans tonight, which had happened to match mine—or the plans I’d made after he’d mentioned his.

Oh, hell. This had disaster written all over it.

But still, I kept walking. As long as I kept this crush to myself, no one could assume this was a date.

Secrets worked. Until you told someone.

The school’s code of conduct didn’t prohibit friendships between teachers and parents. But it did forbid a romantic relationship between a student’s parent and his or her teacher while said student was in the teacher’s class. A rule designed to ensure there was no preferential treatment.

Meaning that while Katy was in my class, Jeff was totally verboten.

I’d read that policy a hundred times in the past two weeks, just to see if maybe it would change.

It hadn’t.

But I could do this. I could have dinner. As long as I didn’t cross the line between friendship and romance, this was just…pizza.

Everyone loved pizza.

“Hi.” Jeff grinned up at me when I reached his table.

“Hey.” My voice was too breathy. I sounded like the awkward teenage girls I caught flirting with the scrawny teenage boys beside their lockers. This was such a bad idea.

“Want to sit?” Jeff nodded to the booth’s bench seat opposite his.

Yes, I wanted to sit. Should I sit was an entirely different question. So I stayed standing beside the table, my gaze darting between his empty pint glass, a menu, the parmesan cheese shaker, the red chili flakes and the booth’s smooth vinyl, begging for my rear end.

“Della.”

I gulped. “This isn’t a date.”

“This is pizza.”

“Exactly.” With a sure nod, I shrugged off my coat, laying it in the booth before sliding into my seat. Then I did a quick scan of the restaurant, my frame relaxing when I didn’t recognize a single face.

“Here.” Jeff slid a glass of ice water across the table. “It’s Katy’s, but she hasn’t touched it yet. She’s too busy trying to win a stuffie from the claw grab machine.”

Past the booth, in the arcade, Katy was at her game, her eyes narrowed as she moved the claw with the joystick. “She’s adorable.”

“I think so too.” A smile tugged at his mouth. “So what do you normally do on Friday nights?”

“Clean.” And until this very moment, I hadn’t realized just how pathetic that sounded.

Wow. I needed to get a freaking life.

Luka was usually gone on Friday nights, off to meet friends or hit up a bar downtown. He used to invite me along, but I’d gotten so tired of watching him pick up women that I’d said no more often than yes, so much so that my invitations had stopped.

Which meant on Fridays, I had the house to myself and would take advantage, cleaning my bedroom and bathroom while I ran a couple loads of laundry.

Boring. Dull.

Time to stop talking about me.

“What about you?” I asked.

“On the Fridays when I have Katy, usually we go out to dinner, then play games at home. When she’s with Rosalie, I usually do some cleaning too.”

“So we’re both boring.”

He chuckled. “Instead of calling it boring, how about efficient? We use our free time wisely.”

“I like that.”

“Me too. I guess we’re kindred spirits.”

Kindred spirits. I liked that too.

My cheeks flushed as I met his hazel eyes, taking in the swirls of color. The intensity of his gaze only made the blush flame hotter, so I took a drink of the ice water.

This connection between us was so…potent. Tangible. It was like a thread stretched between us, a single fiber that kept growing and growing, weaving thicker and tighter, forming a rope.

“How does it feel like I’ve known you for years?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” he murmured. “But I feel the same.”

Beneath the table, his shoe brushed mine. A touch so innocent, so simple, but my breath hitched.

“I, um…” Why was it so hot in here? I took another drink of water, then steered the conversation away from anything that would get me in trouble. Well, more trouble. “So Rosalie is sick?”

“No.” Jeff sighed, his foot staying exactly where it was, pressed against mine. “Yes. Maybe. It’s complicated.”

From everything he’d told me, everything about his relationship with Rosalie was complicated.

“She is sick a lot,” he said. “More often than not, she’s got no symptoms. The doctors won’t find a thing physically wrong with her.

But I think…she likes to be sick. Or the illusion of sick.

Earn that sympathy. I don’t know. When I say it out loud, I sound like an asshole.

But it’s just my opinion. Maybe there is something wrong with her the doctors can’t find. ”

“Ah.”

“It’s a sore subject,” he said, glancing behind him to make sure Katy was still at her game.

“We didn’t have good insurance when we were married.

After Katy was born, there were bills, but I was on a payment plan, taking care of it.

Rosalie would get ‘sick’”—he added air quotes—“and rush off to the doctor. Over and over and over again. At one point, she was going weekly. The bills just piled up. Made it feel like I was in quicksand. Just when I thought I’d caught up on payments, she’d sink me a little deeper. ”

I gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry.”

He opened his mouth, about to say something, then clamped it shut. “Here I am again, telling you way more than you probably care about.”

“I care.”

He huffed a dry laugh. “What is it about you that makes it impossible for me to shut up?”

“I don’t know.” But I liked it. I liked that he confided in me when I doubted he confided in anyone else.

Jeff stared at the table for a long moment. He was debating whether or not to continue, wasn’t he?

I hoped he kept talking. His sharing made me feel important. Trusted. Special.

All my life, I’d just wanted a man who’d make me feel special.

“Rosalie didn’t want a divorce.” He spoke on a low sigh, like he’d accepted this urge to share the whole story. Like the only way he’d be able to stop talking was if I left the booth.

I was not leaving this booth.

“Why didn’t she want a divorce?” I asked. Was she still in love with him?

“Security, I think. We weren’t happy. We were never in love.

Like I told you the other night, I didn’t want to admit I’d failed at my marriage.

But I realized one day that the misery just wasn’t worth it.

I didn’t want Katy growing up in that environment.

So I told Rosalie it was over. She flipped.

Flat out told me no. When she realized I wasn’t going to change my mind, she got a lawyer. ”

And that was when he must have started referring to her as a vicious bitch.

“During the divorce, these sicknesses of hers became a nightmare. It was like she was purposefully trying to shove me into bankruptcy.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She was angry. Knew the thing I loved most was Katy. So she tried to take her away. Ruin my chances at shared custody.”

“What?” I gasped. “But if she was sick all the time, wouldn’t she want help with Katy?”

“If she had full custody, then I was paying higher child support. Enough to where she wouldn’t have to get a job.”

So she’d tried to take advantage. Vicious bitch.

“She racked up a bunch of bills,” he said. “We were still married so they were all in my name. Do you know how much it costs to go to the ER with abdominal pain every day for three weeks?”

“Every day for three weeks?” Oh my God. “How much?”

“A fuckton.” Jeff dragged a hand over his face. “The hospital ended up garnishing my wages. I was buried in debt. It was awful. But I got lucky. That lawyer I told you I hired? He was a referral from my boss at the time. Took me on pro bono. He was good. Very good. Made sure I didn’t lose Katy.”

I officially hated his ex-wife. “I’m sorry.”

“It all worked out.” He checked to make sure Katy wasn’t close by again.

“Rosalie isn’t a bad mom, but she’s not a great mom.

I have a great mom, so I know the difference.

And I can’t even say it’s Rosalie’s fault.

It’s just what she knows. Her own mother is exactly the same.

Always sick. Never working. There’s always…

something. And whatever that something is, it will always take priority over Katy. ”

Then it was good she could always count on Jeff.

“Thanks for telling me,” I said.

“Christ.” He shook his head. “You’re the first person I’ve told in years. Ready to run for the door yet?”

“Nope.” I patted the bench. “I like this seat.”

His eyes softened, a few crinkles forming at the sides. “Glad you came tonight.”

“Me too.”

This was the riskiest move I’d ever made. Even as a kid, I’d never tried shoplifting a lip gloss or going to a party and lying to my parents about what I was doing. I’d been the good girl, happy to abide by the rules.

With Jeff, the stakes were sky-high. My career was one of the single most important things in my life. But I didn’t regret coming tonight. I just couldn’t. I liked him too much.

“Miss Adler!” Katy came to a sliding stop beside the table. A wide smile illuminated her face. Beneath her arm was a fuzzy, hot pink duck. “You came!”

“I decided pizza sounded really yummy. Hope you don’t mind if I sit with you and your dad.”

“No way.” She slid into the booth beside me, handing the duck to Jeff. “Look what I won.”

“Nice work, Dandelion.” He tucked the duck beside him, then handed over a paper kids’ menu with a four pack of crayons.