“What happened?” I asked, concerned.
Tears streamed faster down Noelle’s face, and I crouched alongside Caleb. I took the gloves off my hands and gently brushed the glistening tears off her face.
I turned to look at Caleb, hoping he could offer me some insight as to what had happened to get his daughter this upset. He shook his head and looked away from my gaze. This wasn’tgood. Nothing fazed Caleb. Nothing unless his daughter was concerned. So whatever had Noelle upset had to have been bad.
“Noelle,” I said simply, putting my hands on her shoulders. “Please tell me what happened.”
Noelle peered up at me with sad, somber eyes and then looked away. I followed her gaze and saw a group of girls I recognized as her classmates. They were huddled in a circle, their phones out. The group of girls pointed at Noelle and laughed.
My stomach sank because I realized Noelle wasn’t the only name coming out of their mouths with venom. It was also my own.
“How could I have not known that my daughter’s getting bullied at school?” Caleb whisper-yelled, pacing back and forth in the living room. He had been blaming himself for twenty minutes.
It was a little after midnight and we finally got Noelle to rest. Poor thing cried herself to sleep.
“There’s no way you could have known.” I shook my head. I felt terrible for the young girl who I had grown to love so dearly. “This is all my fault.” I blanched, an uneasy feeling washing over me. The shame made me want to run and hide. I also wanted to give those mean girls a piece of my mind. But I already had to talk Caleb off the ledge of driving to their homes and having another “talk” with the parents. Instead, we called the principal and planned to meet with them once winter break was over.
Caleb closed the gap between us and pulled me into a hug. “It’s not your fault. It’s these stupid fucking parents’ faults. They shouldn’t be gossiping in front of their kids.”
“But if I didn’t have a past then there would be nothing to discuss. Nothing to bully your kid over,” I reasoned. My front teeth dug into my bottom lip. Noelle was an outcast for sticking up for me. Apparently, her classmates tried gossiping to her about me. Noelle wouldn’t partake and went nuts when they called me a slut.
“Grace,” Caleb warned. He leaned in to kiss me as his phone began to ring. He looked at me sheepishly and pulled away.
“It’s my mom. She probably wants an update,” Caleb explained, looking between me and the phone.
I shook my head and waved him off. “Take it. I’m going to go sit on the porch for some air.”
I slid open the door to the wraparound porch, feeling the cold winter air whip at my body. I hugged myself to keep warm. While I was cold, I needed the air. I felt like I was suffocating in the house.
Almost immediately, my phone rang and without thinking, I answered it. “Hello.”
“I was starting to think you were ignoring me, G.”
Bile formed in the back of my throat, and I resisted the urge to vomit.
“Grant.”
“Who else would it be?” Grant provoked. Silence filled the air, but hatred boiled through my veins. “The small-town lumberjack?” he asked and laughed maniacally.
“How do you know about him? What are you doing, keeping tabs on me?” I questioned a little loudly. I silently cursed, moving farther away from the house.
“Is that any way to treat the person who knows all your secrets?” Grant sneered. “You know I have those pictures of us. After Cordelia’s birthday party when you decided you wanted to try X …” He trailed off.
“You’re lying. I broke the camera.” This couldn’t be happening. I didn’t need a sex scandal on top of everything else. Noelle was already suffering the consequences of my actions.
“You didn’t take the memory card with you, sweetcheeks.” Grant chuckled, rustling with something on his end of the phone. And as though he was reading my mind, he said, “Do you really think you’re cut out for motherhood? What do you think you’re doing up there, playing house? Come home. Everybody knows who you are. People don’t change, G. If your small town knew the truth about Grace Harrington, they’d drop you like a bad habit. Maybe I should pay them a visit, let them know who you really are.”
“Shut up, Grant,” I yelled, cringing and looking back to the door. The last thing I needed was for Caleb to come out here, or worse, wake Noelle after the day she had.
“Once things get hard and you don’t have the luxuries of our world, you’ll come crawling back. I’ll be here, ready for you to get on your knees,” Grant taunted, before the line went dead.
CHAPTER 33
Caleb
I wipedthe shot glass in my hands for the third time as I waited for Max to come back with lunch. I didn’t want to leave the bar because it was close to Noelle’s school. In case she needed me, I wanted to be nearby. It was her first day back after holiday break and the school was trying to put a plan in place for the bullies. It was a slow afternoon, just Dirty Al and me here, which was fine because I had a lot on my mind.
Nobody prepared you for the day when as a parent, you couldn’t fix something for your kid. Cuts and bruises could get bandages and first aid. Toys that broke could be fixed with super glue or repurchased and overnighted. But I couldn’t prevent Noelle being bullied by these petty girls. Well, not in a legal way, at least.
