Page 36 of What He Always Knew

I needed to find something Icouldcontrol.

My anxiety had festered like an infected wound since Monday, my hands itching for something to do to make her stay with me. I knew she had to go to the conference tomorrow, but how could I stay in her mind, in her heart, when she was away with him?

In a strange way, the universe had given me something last night. When I got home from work, Charlie told me her check engine light had come on. So, I let her take my car to school and I took hers into the shop. It was so small, so easy, but it was something I could do for Charlie. It was something I could take off her plate and put on mine. It was a way to show her my love.

And there was another way I’d show her, too — a plan I was putting into action for while she was away. When she came back to me Sunday night, it wouldn’t be just me she would come home to.

But that plan had to be shelved until she left.

For now, I used the energy from the weekend to keep her with me for as long as I could.

The halls filled with kids on their way to the lunchroom as I walked through the school. They filtered out slowly at first, a few classrooms dismissing early, and then the halls were crawling with little eyes and voices. I watched them all pass with a smile on my face, and when I recognized one of them, that smile split my face in half.

“Mr. Pierce!”

Jeremiah flung himself out of line and into my arms, which earned him a stern reprimanding from Robin, Charlie’s aide. When she saw it was me, she paused, holding the line in place for just a moment as a small smile found her lips, too.

“Hey buddy,” I said, bending to my knee to catch him. I managed to move the flowers I’d brought Charlie out of the way before he could crush them, and I squeezed him in a hug before he pulled away again. “How have you been?”

“Good,” he said quickly, his eyes still bright and round. “Mom said you guys are starting on our house soon!”

“We are. Are you going to come and help us start building on groundbreaking day?”

Jeremiah nodded. “Uh-huh. Mom said she’s gonna get me my own shovel!”

I chuckled, ruffling the hair on his head.

And for just a flash, I felt my unborn son like it was him staring back at me through Jeremiah’s eyes.

“Well alright,” I said. “Can’t wait to see it. I bet you’re going to be a big help to us.”

“I will be! You can count on me, Mr. Pierce!”

He was still bouncing a little when Robin coaxed him back in line, and I waved her a thank you as the line began to file away again.

The halls grew quieter as I closed in on Charlie’s classroom, and when I rounded the corner and saw her through the open doorway, I couldn’t help but stop and smile.

This was Charlie in her element.

I wished I could have caught her in time to watch her with the kids, the same way I had the first time I’d surprised her at work. But even now, watching her tidy up the classroom while she hummed softly to herself, I could feel the joy radiating off her.

Her smile was genuine as she swept through the classroom, and I watched greedily, soaking up what that smile did to me, in turn. To some, they’d look at her and say she was “just a Kindergarten teacher.” But for Charlie, there was no better job in the world. There was no better time to teach children, to help them form habits, to comfort them as they transitioned from home life to school life. This was her calling, it was what she wasmadeto do.

School made her happy. Teaching made her happy. And, more than anything, thosekidsmade her happy.

I was reminded again that one day, she would be the best mother the world had ever seen.

I hoped I’d be there to witness it first-hand.

Charlie caught a glimpse of me when she was stacking up workbooks, and at first, her mouth seemed to flatten at having a visitor. But when she did a double-take, she paused, her brows pinching together.

And then her smile lit up the room.

“Cam?” She shook her head, abandoning the workbooks she’d stacked up on her desk. “What are you doing here?”

“Surprising you. Did it work?”

I handed her the flowers, and she laughed, inhaling their scent with eyes closed before they fluttered open and found mine again.