“Well, I don’t know. Maybe.” His smile faded. “Let me talk to them first. It might be way out of our budget right now.”
She solemnly nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”
He got out and helped her out. Carrying her on his hip, they headed for the dojo. He wasn’t holding out high hopes for being able to afford it, but hell, having her learn how to protect herself wasn’t abadthing, that was for sure.
The woman behind the counter looked older than himself…and familiar. She smiled when they walked in. “Hello, there. Welcome.” Her voice even sounded familiar.
From the way her gaze narrowed as she looked at him, he had a feeling she recognized him, too.
He stopped halfway across the lobby when it hit him. “Holy cow, Mrs. McElroy?”
Her eyes widened. “Hank Webster!”
He nearly burst into tears when she hustled around the counter and hurried over to them for hugs. “Oh, my gosh! How are you doing, honey?”
“I…” He choked out a laugh. “It’s a long story, ma’am.”
He and Dox had Eliza McElroy all three years in high school for history and social studies, and they had loved her classes. She’d been their favorite teacher, always witty, interesting, and fair. She loved the subject matter, loved teaching it and bringing it alive for them.
The only idiosyncrasy she had, if you could even call it that, was she asked her students to use “ma’am” with her, and with each other. Or “sir” if talking to a male student. To be polite to her and to each other in her class.
“And who is this beautiful little ninja princess?” she asked.
JJ giggled. “I’m JJ.”
Holy shit, if Mrs. McElroy worked here, hereallyhoped he could afford it, suspected he wouldn’t be able to, and thatwouldmake him cry. He’d trust her to take care of JJ and keep her safe.
He didn’t just mean from the sparring, either.
“How old are you, JJ?” she asked.
She grinned. “I’ll be six in two weeks! Daddy’s going to take me to the beach and I’llfinallyget to see the ocean.”
“That sounds like fun!” She gave JJ a little fist bump. “So what brings you in here today?”
He took a deep breath, bracing himself for disappointment. “We just moved back here over the weekend. I enrolled her in kindergarten, and today was her first day. I need to find after-school care for her, and line up summer daycare, too. They listed this place as one of the approved pick-up camps and I…” He forced the smile to stay on his face even as he choked back tears. “Here we are.”
Her gaze narrowed as she watched him, then she returned her focus to JJ. “Do you like cartoons?”
She nodded. “I love cartoons!”
“How about I sit you down in the back room while your daddy and I talk for a couple of minutes and catch up. I was his teacher when he was a kid.”
JJ nodded, and he knew he just needed to hold it together for a couple of minutes, until JJ was safely absorbed in a TV show.
God bless the woman.
Once Mrs. McElroy had her set up on a sofa in a small office and watching the TV there, she led Hank back to the front desk. “Okay, we’ve got about fifteen minutes or less before the hordes invade.” Her smile faded as she gripped his hands and squeezed. “Tell me the truth, honey. Everything. What’s wrong?”
It poured out of him in a tearful rush, and she was suddenly pressing tissues into his hands as he choked out the story.
“And I’m sorry I’m crying. I know you’re going to tell me how much it costs and I’m not going to be able to afford it right now, which really sucks because I know I could trust her here if you’re here, and—”
“Shh.” She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. “You’re in luck—we have a scholarship program.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “Well, we donow.”
