Page 40 of Paper Flowers (Stonebrook #1)

She pulls away from Luke’s arms, sitting up, and points to her heart to show us where exactly it hurts. Sadie turns her head to look at me, her eyes full of uncertainty. “I want you to be here with me, Dayna. Like— like you have been. You want me, right? Even if I’m not your baby?”

Luke holds his daughter closely against his chest while he whispers the lyrics to the song she pleaded for.

My eyes bolt straight to Dean. I take a large step towards him but Morgan steps between us. “Mr. Carter, you need to go to your office now. I will be with you shortly.”

I feel like a dull serrated knife just gutted me deeply.

The cries of Sadie needing her mother’s song so desperately have marked my soul.

I never wanted to cause her any pain, I love this little girl as if she’s my very own.

I’d die for her. She trusted him and he threw what frightens her the most back at her in the worst possible way.

Goddamn, how is Luke so calm right now?

In Dean fashion, he clears his throat, “Luke, that’s not exactly what I—” Luke holds a hand up and shakes his head. He covers Sadie’s ear with one hand as the other is laying on his shoulder.

“I believe Mrs. McKenna told you to do something. I suggest you fucking listen to her, right fucking now.” He said through his teeth.

Dean turns on his heels and walks back to his office.

I stand up and pick up my phone from the ground and I press play again.

I set it down on my desk for Sadie. Luke grabs my hand and rubs his thumb against the back of my hand.

I place my hand on top of his and squeeze it three times before I release our hands.

He walks to the empty chair in front of my desk and sits down with Sadie in his arms. I give them some privacy, so I leave my office and close the door behind me. With the door shut, I begin to cry for the two people I am madly in love with.

Mrs. Emily is by my side and it looks like she’s been crying herself.

In a low whisper she says “Sugar, that little girl could have easily ran to her father’s classroom but instead she chose to run to you.

” I look at her and she pulls me into a tight hug.

Sadie felt comfortable enough to come to me for me to console her.

To hold her while she cried. I’d hold her a thousand times if it meant that made her feel better for only a moment.

I look at the clock on the wall of the front office and it’s nearly 2 PM.

There is only an hour left of school. If Luke needed to take Sadie home, he could do so with Cara’s class being with the music teacher for the remainder of the day.

After a few minutes, Luke emerges from my office with Sadie still in his arms, she looks like she’s calming down.

She has her eyes closed and hiccups now and then from crying so hard.

Morgan is now standing next to me and Mrs. Emily. She tells Luke to take the rest of the day off. He says he’d appreciate it. I reached over to Mrs. Emily’s desk phone to call Caleb to send Sadie’s things to the front office. He said he’ll send a student with her things right away and we hang up.

“Hey, Luke? What do you need from your classroom?” He is rocking Sadie side to side. “I need my backpack and my cell phone is in my desk drawer.”

“Okay, I’ll grab it for you.”

“Can you meet us in the parking lot? I’m going to take her to my truck.”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a bit.” I say quietly.

He turns around and thanks Morgan and Mrs. Emily again .

I see Morgan walking straight to Dean’s office and I don’t want to hear anything right now. I am so furious at him. I leave the front office and walk as fast as I can to Luke’s classroom. I see a student holding Sadie’s backpack and lunch pail.

“Thank you Grace, I’ll make sure she gets her things.”

“Is she sick? Can you tell her, I hope she feels better.” Grace asks.

“That is so sweet of you, I’ll let her know.” I head swiftly over to Luke’s classroom.

Walking out to the parking lot, I see Luke leaning against the truck of his bed. His hands are in his pockets and his shoulders are so tense.

“Grace wants Sadie to know, she hopes she feels better.” I say as I hand him their things.

“That was nice of her. I’m glad she has a friend that is thinking of her.”

We round the bed of the truck and stand next to the driver side door. Luke pulls me in for a hug and gives me a gentle kiss on my forehead. I close my eyes as I hug him back.

“I’ll see you at home, Dayna.” He says in a low voice as he’s getting in his truck.

I would have easily melted at the sound of him saying “Home” but I can’t, knowing his daughter is hurting due to my ex-husband’s insecurities.

“See you both as soon as I can leave.” I say quietly, as he closes his door.

I take a deep breath as I walk back into the front office and Mrs. Emily follows me to my office and closes the door behind her.

“Will she be ok? Morgan is still with Dean. I heard her shouting at him.” She said in a concerning voice.

“I hope so. He needs to explain to her why he would say those things to Sadie.” I say almost in an angry tone. I know it’s not Mrs. Emily’s fault, I just can’t be here right now. I feel responsible for everything that happened today .

“Miss Dayna, this isn’t your fault. From what Sadie said it sounds like Mr. Carter made it personal.” She is absolutely right. He did. I seriously can’t be here. I tell Mrs. Emily I’m going to Luke’s classroom to be with Cara. I lock my computer and grab my phone from my desk.

Cara is sitting at Luke’s desk, grading her student’s homework. Luke’s students are working on a science worksheet. Luke’s Life Science book is open on the back table as if he tossed it once Mrs. Emily called him. Cara looks at me and I just want to fall apart. She gets up and meets me outside.

“Did Luke need anything else? What happened?”

I wave her to the doorway so we can talk a little more privately.

“Sadie stormed out of Dean’s office crying and came to my office. She was so hurt, Cara.” My throat has a knot as I’m holding my emotions in as best as I can. I tell her what Dean did and what Mrs. Emily said.

“Where is Dean now?” Cara says in a harsh tone.

“Still with Morgan.”

“He had no right telling Sadie any of that! You said it from the beginning how you’re happy just being in her life.”

“What hurt me the most is, she was already feeling anxious about me. Dean took advantage of that and added fuel to her anxieties. If she was any other student, I guarantee this wouldn’t have happened.”

I try to compose myself but hearing Sadie cry the way she did, tugs at my heart so hard. I never want to hear her cry like that again. I am so angry with Dean and the way things escalated. My phone vibrates, and it’s Morgan.

Morgan: Let’s talk in my office.

I’ll be right there.

My nerves are shot and my body is running on adrenaline pumping through my veins. Mrs. Emily gives a forced smile. None of us have ever experienced a grown adult belittling a child. I knock on Morgan’s door and she waves me in. I take a seat in front of her.

“How’s Sadie?” She asks.

“She stopped crying enough to let Luke take her home.”

“Let me know how she’s doing when you get home.”

“Of course.”

“Well, I spoke to Dean. He will be taking the rest of the day off and I’m going to bring in Annalise Adams from Stonebrook High School. I would have Henry Walker come in but he’s out on a conference.”

“Is she going to replace him?”

“No, she’s only going to be seeing Sadie Beckett.”

“Morgan, I’m so sorry this happened.”

“I know, but it’s Dean who needs to be apologizing to Sadie and her father, and frankly, I don’t think he thinks he did anything wrong. With what she said, Dean said it was a misunderstanding. Spoken out of context.”

With her words lingering, I know Dean would try to spin this on Sadie. He could talk his way out of any situation. “Did he explain what he said to her for her to run out of their session crying hysterically?”

“He said the two of them spoke about you. He told Sadie, her family is her parents and herself. You wouldn’t be a part of that bond and it can’t be replaced or replicated.”

“But why tell her that? Luke spoke to him about how she gets anxious when we drive. How did that turn into me replacing her mom?”

“Dayna, I believe Sadie. Dean didn’t even ask if she was okay. He was worried about himself.”

Sounds about Dean.

I’m parked outside Luke’s house and I see him leaning against the porch banister. I don’t want to bring in my overnight bag just yet. I grab my purse and head towards his house.

“Hi, where’s Sadie?” I say to him as I walk up the porch steps. He closes the gap between us and gives me a hug. “She’s on FaceTime with her grandparents. I have dinner ready, if you’re hungry?”

“I am hungry, actually.”

“Let’s get inside and—” He looks down at my empty hands.

“Where are your bags at? Did you change your mind about spending the night?”

“No, I—I wasn’t sure if you still wanted me to spend the night after everything that happened.”

“Baby, of course I want you to spend the night, and so does Sadie.” He said as he cupped the side of my face.

I can’t help but take a deep breath.

“Luke, you don’t know how sorry I am. The second I heard her crying, my whole body went into panic mode.

I tried to help her. The sounds of her cries are etched in my brain and I hate that she cried because of me.

” The guilt creeps in. He grabs the loop of my work pants and brings me in closer to him.

Brushing my hair back, he asks “Dayna, it isn’t your fault. He crossed the line and he will be dealt with. No one fucks with my family. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know to play that specific song?” He asks softly.

“When she came running to my office, she asked for The Lumineers . I only knew one song, and I was praying it was the one she asked for.”