Free Clallam Bay (A Fresh Start #2) by L. C. Morgan Page A

could quite possibly have to put her back into the system, I’d take the small victory.
    “Hey, there. How’s it going?” Alyssa poked her head in the empty classroom. I just stared at her like she should know. Walking closer, she looked me over for battle wounds. “I don’t see any blood, sweat, or tears. So, pretty well, huh?”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    Slouching in my chair, I leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and pouted a little. “No.”
    So far, three sets of parents hadn’t shown up for their scheduled times. And the ones who had shown up didn’t seem all too happy to have to be there. I was dealing with a lot of attitudes, which in turn was affecting my own.
    I peeked out of one eye as Alyssa leaned across my desk.
    “I don’t want to tell you that you care too much. But you care too much. Just teach the kids their ABCs and one-two-threes and be done with it. No worrying about their well-being outside these walls, ‘cause if there’s one thing I learned in this life it’s that you can’t make a damn difference out there. The only difference you can make is in here and that’s on a good day. You just remember that, chill, and you’ll be fine.” Straightening, she picked at her nails. “You’ll sleep better, too.”
    Once the next parent arrived, Alyssa took off for her own classroom, shutting the door behind her. I settled back in for a long day of parent conference hell.
    Maybe I should have baked the parents some cookies, too.
    *
    “So, how’d it go? Was it as bad as you thought it was going to be?” Amber asked from her spot on the couch. Dropping my bag, I plopped down beside her.
    “Could’ve gone better. Could’ve gone worse. You know how it goes.”
    “True dat.”
    She passed me the remote then finished up her nails before going into the kitchen and reappearing with a snack-size bag of Doritos and a Diet Coke. I almost got up to kiss her.
    “Amber, sweet Amber.”
    “Ew. Don’t reference me using that creepy-ass movie.”
    “Did I ever tell you you’re the pagiest of all the pageboys and that I love you?”
    “All right.” Frowning, she took back the remote. “No Seinfeld reruns for you.”
    Amber’s threat was as empty as they usually were and she flipped the channel herself. We watched a couple episodes before I got up to bake some cookies for the class tomorrow, thinking about Kaylee’s sad situation. Passed on by three families in three years’ time. None of which were her fault. It just wasn't fair.
    Sulking, I set aside a few cookies for my impatient neighbor who’d given me the idea in the first place. He was right. If I had to be remembered as anything by these kids, I wanted it to be nice.
    “These for your neighbor?” Amber grabbed a cookie and sat at the kitchen table to pick at it.
    “Yeah. I’m just going to run them over. I’ll be quick.”
    “I’d say so since he’s not there.”
    I gave her a look, having seen his truck sitting in the driveway when I came home earlier.
    “His truck’s there, but he’s not,” Amber said as if she’d read my mind. “Some brunette swung by earlier and picked him up. He really gets around, huh? I’ve been thinking about how to tell you all day.”
    She almost seemed relieved. Relieved but sorry about it.
    I shrugged. “Then I’ll just drop them off.” Grabbing the plate, I headed for the front door. “I’ll be right back.”
    The screen door slammed shut behind me and it made me feel a little better. I considered dumping the cookies in the trashcan outside his house, but didn’t. I set them down on the porch like I had every other time before because I wasn’t mad at him. Why would I be? But I was beginning to wonder if he would ever be there to accept anything I made for him in person.
    When I got back Amber had another pack of Doritos waiting for me on my spot on the couch. I grabbed them and gave her a kiss on the head before heading to bed.
    I was over today. Tomorrow had to be better.
    *
    “What