Better Than Before (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (19 page)

Keith sighed. “We’re not even sure if it happened. He won’t tell us.”

 “That’s often the case. Kids are reluctant to confess to being bullied. Usually, they’re embarrassed, then fearful of repercussions.”

Annie put in, “We didn’t send him to school today.”

“I believe that’s a mistake. He can’t run from whatever is happening.”

Annie trusted her own instincts. “I was worried about his safety.”

“Ah, I hate hearing that about my school. Here’s what we’ll do.” She took a pad of paper from her desk and began to write notes as she spoke. “First, we’ll examine the video from security cameras around school for the last month and see if they show Alex in bullying situations. Meanwhile, I’ll put an email out to teachers to listen to kids’ conversations for any talk or signs of harassment. And all of the administrators will be extra vigilant in the cafeteria and halls, though they do this anyway, once May rolls around and the kids get antsy.”

“Can you check FacePage? I know that online bullying is prevalent. But many of the kids whose names I know don’t have pages.”

“Though technically, cyber bullying is out of our jurisdiction, we have ways of finding out if this is happening there.”

Keith said, “I’d prefer you view the tapes before we send Alex back to school.”

“Fine. I’ll have a report for you by tomorrow on what we discussed here, Mr. Kennedy.”

They all stood.

“Annie, I promise you, we’ll get to the bottom of this. If any bullying is happening to Alex, in school or online, we’ll stop it.”

 “Thank you, Judith.”

When they emerged from the building, Keith and Annie walked together to her car. He surprised her by saying, “Have coffee with me.”

Though she was uncomfortable spending time with him because he not only reminded her of her inadequacies but could still bring them out, Annie agreed. They needed to deal with Alex as a unit, not as bickering enemies.

At Starbucks, as they sat in the strong sunshine coming in from the glass front, she noticed there was gray in Keith’s hair and lines around his mouth that hadn’t been there when he’d left her. Maybe the failure of their marriage affected him more than he let on.

She sipped her café latte. “That went well, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. I keep wondering, though, if there’s more to Alex’s withdrawal and surliness at home. Are you dating now?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Fuck it, Annie. Any man you date is my business if he’ll be around my children.”

“Let’s not cloud the issue with other disagreements. We need to stand together to see if Alex is being bullied.”

“Just tell me that, Annie.”

“All right, there is somebody I’ve been seeing, but he hasn’t met the kids yet.”

“That could be the problem.”

“They don’t even know about him, Keith. Besides, the bullying started before I met him.”

“I suppose your friends like him better than me.”

His comment made her angry. How dare he, after what he’d done? “My friends certainly aren’t any of your concern. During our divorce, you had your country-club buddies try to keep them from me, and I’ll never, ever forgive you for that.”

He glanced over at the line at the counter, then back to her. “I’m sorry I did that. I was mad at you.”

 
“You
were mad? You left me and the kids for someone more suitable to you. And
you
were mad?”

“That’s not fair. I wanted you to be more involved in my life. It wasn’t too bad before the kids were born, but after, you changed into someone else.”

“I changed into a mother, Keith, who wanted to spend time with my children and not at scotch matches.”

“You could have compromised, then none of this would have happened. But once again, your insecurities took over. I never understood why you even had them. And I never wanted to
lose
you because of some stupid notion that I thought I was better than you.”

Fuming, Annie set down her cup. The last thing she needed was a fight with her ex, but she wasn’t giving in. “Is that what you’re salving your conscience with? That it was somehow my fault that you had an affair?”

Heat flushed his cheeks. “No, I’m not. But you don’t compromise well, Annie. You never have.”

“That’s bullshit.” She scraped back her chair and stood. “Good-bye, Keith. This little tête à tête is over.”

Though she stormed out in righteous indignation, after Annie got inside her car, she rested her forehead on the steering wheel. She thought these episodes with Keith were a part of the past, that she was done letting his accusations hurt her. But the compromise comment, the insecurity accusation, pricked her conscience. Because those remarks weren’t so off the mark and had relevance to her life again. If she and Spence were to make a go of their relationship, she was going to have to do a lot of compromising, get rid of her insecurities. And deep down, she feared she might not be able to work out those problems with another man, just as she hadn’t been able to do it with Keith.

o0o

On Saturday morning, Annie scanned the family section of auditorium where the graduation ceremony for Master’s Degree candidates was being held. She was searching for her son. Initially, he’d been furious about her and Keith going to school yesterday, but he’d lightened up after a few hours. That made her wonder if he really did want help with his problem at school but didn’t realize it consciously.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to concentrate on the significance of today, how hard she’d worked to get here and the milestone she’d accomplished. When her name was called, she rose, lifted the black gown so she wouldn’t trip, and walked up to the stage receive her diploma. This was an achievement. She’d already been interviewed by three local school districts and was hoping to be called back for a second round by at least one of them. With all that had been happening, she’d stopped focusing on the positive things in her life.

On her way down the aisle to her row, she noticed a man in a suit, standing at the back of the auditorium. Oh, dear Lord, she’d never expected Spence would come here today. Pique at his presumptuousness in attending the ceremony without an invitation welled up inside her. On the heels of that was concern. Could she ignore him, or was she going to be forced to introduce him to her family?

After the ceremony, the graduates marched out first, leaving the others to buck the crowd. She was glad she was in the middle of the alphabet, as there were several recipients and the professors behind her, so her family would be delayed.

When she reached the foyer, she found Spence leaning up against a wall.

“Hi,” she said calmly, determined not to cause a scene, not to show too much emotion.

“Hi.” He tipped the mortar board cap she wore. “You look cute.”

“Finally I have my degree.”

“I wanted to see that.”

“How did you get in?”

“I know the president of the college.” He straightened. “I’m leaving now, though. You don’t want me to meet the kids yet. I planned to be long gone before they made their way out, but I had to say hello.”

“You shouldn’t have come here without getting my permission, Spence.” Her words came out more sharply than she’d intended, but she was right, damn it.

He recoiled. He was a man used to doing whatever he wanted. “Permission? I never ask permission from anybody.”

“You will where my kids are concerned.”

“I see. I’ll be careful not to overstep boundaries next time.” He seemed frustrated, but he also sounded hurt. The man was full of contradictions, which sent her head spinning.

“Spence, I—”

“There she is.” Annie turned to find one of her professors had come up behind her, probably wanting to offer congratulations. It was Todd Lucas, dressed in full graduation regalia. He gave her a big hug. And a brief kiss on the mouth. Oh, dear.

Over Todd’s shoulder, she saw Spence stiffen, and his blue eyes burned with something primitive. She should be angry. She should be insulted.

Instead, she felt a thread of something very female unravel inside her.

o0o

He shouldn’t have come to the ceremony, Spence thought as he strode to his car. He knew Annie didn’t want him to meet her family yet. He knew her friends would have a fit if they saw him. It was just that this degree meant so much to her that he’d gotten the ticket despite his misgivings.

His fists curled and he swore under his breath, “Goddamn it.” He was shocked by the professor’s show of affection, of something a lot more than teacher-student friendliness. He needed to get out of here fast before he punched the guy out—something he knew he had no right to do. He’d gotten to the parking lot when someone grabbed his arm from behind. He turned to find Annie had followed him.

“Spence, wait.” Her eyes were filled with concern. “I’m sorry about that. I know it must have been hard to watch.”

“Another man kissing you? Try driving a stake through my heart.” He drew in a breath. “That night I came over, you told me point blank you’d do whatever you wanted. Have you been seeing him?”

“Not in the way you mean. The first time was a mistake. I already told you all this.”

“He kissed you.”

“And he shouldn’t have. I gave him no encouragement.”

Spence let out a heavy breath. “I guess I overreacted.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “This is hard for me. If I could see you more…”

“I’ll call you tonight. We can talk about everything.”

“All right.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “And about coming here… I feel like one of your kindergartners being reprimanded.”

“No, not that. I was surprised that you were here and it unnerved me.”

“You don’t like surprises.”

“No, not after I got so many bad ones with Keith.”

He hated to think he was going to be paying for her ex’s behavior, but now didn’t seem the time to bring it up. “I can understand that. I didn’t mean to cause such a stir. I’ll head out and we can talk about this later.”

But he’d indulge himself this once. Leaning in, he kissed her on the cheek. It had been so long since he’d touched her, felt her near him. So he held her there a moment.

And she stayed.

Then he whispered, “Go now, so I don’t see your family. We don’t need more drama today.”

“Take care, Spence.” She turned to leave and bumped into someone else.

“Annie?”

“What are
you
doing here?”

The guy frowned at Spence. Then looked to Annie.

She said, “Spence Wickham, this is my ex-husband, Keith Kennedy.”

Keith studied Spence. Then he held out his hand. “Hello, Spence. Good to see you again.”

o0o

After Spence left, Keith grabbed Annie’s arm and dragged her off to the side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked and flung off his hand. “I warned you before not to manhandle me.”

“Is this the man you told me about? The one you’re dating?”

“Yes.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you know who he is?”

 
I do now.
“Yes, of course.”

“He’s a venture capitalist. He runs an empire. How do you know him, anyway?”

Keith was kicking into her insecurities about Spence’s life. And she hated he could do this. “That’s none of your business.”

“He travels in my circles. You’d have no way to meet him.”

“Stop it, Keith.”

“He kissed you. Hell, Annie. If you were insecure in our relationship, you’ll be a basket case with him.”

“Hold on. That’s way too premature.”

“He freaking came to your graduation. He kissed you,” Keith repeated.

“I’m not going to talk to you about this.”

Before he could push her further, Hope’s voice rang out. “Dad-dy…” She was running over to them.

Trailing a few yards back were Alex, her mom and friends.

Keith bent down and scooped up Hope. “Hey, princess.”

“What are you doing here?” Hope asked.

“I came to see Mommy’s big day.”

Alex reached them next. “Hi, Dad.” He looked at Annie. “Why are you out here? We couldn’t find you.”

Hope asked, “Are you coming to lunch with us, Daddy?”

Annie caught sight of her daughter’s face. But it was the expression on Alex’s that made her decision. Relief. Her son had once told her he felt safer when his father was around, and Keith had pulled through for him about the bullying. She had to do what was best for her kids, no matter how much she didn’t like it.

“Yeah, sure. Daddy can come with us.”

Her mother, Lauren and Julia joined them, and Annie explained that Keith would be having lunch with them. They all stared at her as if she was out of her mind.

Glancing where Spence had retreated, Annie was beginning to wonder about that herself.

Chapter 10

“I can’t believe you did this.” Annie held Jake’s leash outside of PetPlay, which was exactly what the name implied—a doggy play facility in a suburb of Rockland.

After the fiasco of going to her graduation, Spence had been careful the two other times they’d seen each other not to be presumptuous. Their dates had been innocuous—out to lunch and once for drinks at a place on the lake, where they’d managed to chat amiably and avoid conflict. Though he wasn’t pleased about censoring every move he made and every word he spoke, he was trying hard not to upset her. “I asked you first if bringing him to PetPlay was acceptable.”

“I know. That’s not what I meant. I appreciate how careful you’ve been since graduation not to surprise me. Or push me.”

Her hair sparkled with threads of gold in the still-shining sunlight. He longed to touch it, longed to have that right. “Let’s have fun tonight and steer away from hard topics.”

She nodded to the front of the building. “I checked this place out once. Even when I was married, I thought it was too expensive, so I never mentioned it to Keith.”

“I can afford it, Annie. Besides, I only signed up for the trial orientation. Let me do this for Jakey boy. It wasn’t that long ago you thought you’d lost him.”

As if he knew what was at stake, Jake nudged her leg and peered up at her with a soulful expression. Damn, she loved this dog. “You’re right.”