Free Deadly Bonds by Anne Marie Becker

Aunty Em to greet her. No Toto. She refused to be lonely, reminding herself that leaving her marriage had been for the best, and that being alone wasn’t all bad. In fact, it provided much-needed peace and quiet at the end of the day.
    Maybe she should get a dog. She wondered what the board would think of that.
    Closing the door, she kicked her heels under the secretary desk and checked her personal phone line for messages, dreading what she might find. Thankfully, there no more angry words from John. She made a mental note to speak to Neil soon, and see how the night classes at the community college were going.
    She quickly discarded her skirt and blouse in favor of yoga pants and a soft cotton T-shirt. She scrubbed the makeup from her face and immediately felt lighter.
    Once settled on the couch with a beer, a bag of chips and her laptop, Sara perused her emails. A name caught her eye.
    HPatterson. Holt? It had been a little over a week since the picnic, when she’d sworn she’d felt the beginnings of a truce between them. She’d apologized. He’d accepted. Not that it meant anything in the grand scheme of things.
    Liar. Her hormones were buzzing at the mere thought of Holt emailing her when, until now, he’d gone out of his way to avoid contact with her.
    She clicked on the message and felt her enthusiasm turn to concern. Theo had used his dad’s account, probably without Holt’s knowledge.
    Miss Sara , I’ve been working on my comic. Adding a girl hero too. I think you’ll like her. I’ve also been practicing my chess moves on Dad’s computer. Better watch out.
    Her restlessness receded as she read Theo’s words, focusing on the emotions that lay beneath. He’d lost his mother, and he missed having that important female role model in his life. That much had been clear in her time with him over the past few months.
    Sara was tempted to call Theo. Just to check on him. Or to see if he wanted to play chess over the phone. But despite their truce, Holt probably wouldn’t appreciate her interference, and the last thing she needed was another parent angry with her. With the school board looking for any excuse to keep her reined in, she couldn’t risk any contact that might rattle some cages.
    Rochard would be watching too. She’d bet on it. He seemed hell-bent on finding a way to unhinge her.
    Holt wasn’t anywhere near the same category of father—or man—as John Rochard. John was blissfully ignorant of his children’s wants and needs. Holt would want to know that his son was using his email account, trying to reach out to others in his loneliness. But she didn’t want to betray Theo’s trust.
    A knock interrupted and she opened the door. Chad White, the computer tech guy she’d hired last week to update the school’s wireless system and teach computer classes, stood on the threshold.
    “Sorry to interrupt.” Looking uncomfortable at bothering her after hours, he ran a hand over his thick, short brown hair. “You said it was okay to bug you here.”
    “No problem. How are the upgrades going?”
    “Fine, fine. Old wiring here and there, but nothing I can’t handle.”
    “Good.” That was a relief. She’d had to urge the board to upgrade the system in the first place. She was certain they wouldn’t want to hear of any major issues with the project. “What can I do for you, then?”
    “There’s a student here. I didn’t want to get him in trouble since he seems to be studying and all, but I thought you’d want to know he was here.”
    Someone was here after five on a Friday? “I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. Where is he?”
    “The library. I didn’t say anything to him. Didn’t want to disturb him if you’d said it was okay to be there.”
    “Thanks.”
    “And I’ll be out of your hair in another hour or so. Be back tomorrow with the rest of the equipment to finish the job. I may have to turn the power off for a bit, though. The internet will be back online pretty