Line of Sight - 3. Chapter 3

“Please, tell me that time is wrong, or I am in so much trouble!”

Murray cocked his head to the side and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. I probably had considering I was talking to the dog and actually asking him a question like I expected an answer. I shook my head and locked Murray in his kennel and sprinted out the door. I nearly fell on my ass as my feet hit the light coating of snow on the porch but managed to stay on my feet. I couldn't afford any delays; I had less than fifteen minutes to get to Jake’s school for my parent-teacher meeting.

It took longer to get to Jake’s school than usual because of the roads. There was easily six inches of snow and it took every ounce of skill I had to keep the truck on the road. At one point I even had to shift into four wheel drive, but I did finally pull into the visitor’s parking lot with seconds to spare. I heard the lunch bell which also signaled the end of Jake’s school day and climbed out of the truck and rushed inside. I had to stop and check in at the office and was relieved to see Jamie’s name on the visitor’s log. Visitor’s badge in hand I headed to Jake’s classroom only to see Jake wrapped in his mom’s arms when I got close.

“I see you made it back in one piece.” I stepped closed and wrapped both Jamie and Jake in a hug. I was so glad we had been able to remain close friends after our divorce. Her hair, the same color as Jake’s, brushed my chin and I stepped back.

“I did. I’m guessing Murray is in your truck?” She set Jake down, but took his hand in hers.

“Actually,” I grimaced, “I was running late and didn’t have time to get his kennel and stuff in the truck. I must have set the alarm on my phone wrong.” I felt bad, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now. It was either make it to the school on time or show up with Murray.

“Not a problem. We’re actually meeting Paul for lunch and then I can swing by your place and pick him up.” Jamie smiled up at me and I knew she really wasn’t upset about it. “Besides, it might actually be better this way. We can have a minute to talk and you can fill me in on what Mr. Cutler wanted to talk about.”

“Sounds great.” I crouched down and gave Jake another hug. “Be good, I love you.”

“Love you, Daddy.” I kissed his cheek and watched him walk away with Jamie. The time Jake got to spend with his mom was good for both of them and I just wished they could see each other more. Jake usually spent one night a weekend with Paul, even when Jamie was gone, but Jake needed some just him and mom time. Once they turned the corner I stepped into Jake’s classroom and came face to face with Mr. Cutler.

“Mr. McKenna, thank you for coming in to see me.” Tony Cutler stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Thank you for calling, Mr. Cutler.” I took his hand in mine and tried to ignore the warmth that shot up my arm.

“Please, call me Tony.” Tony smiled and I felt that smile clear down to my toes.

It took me a moment to realize I still grasped his hand with mine and I forced myself to let go.

“Only if you call me Brad. You said there was something you needed to speak with me about regarding Jake. I hope everything is okay.”

I released his hand and followed as he led the way further into the classroom. He grabbed a chair against the wall and set it on the other side of his desk and motioned me to take a seat. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what he wanted to talk to me about.

“I believe it is, but I did want to talk to you about some of Jake’s recent behavior.” Jake’s teacher moved around his desk and sat down.

“His behavior?” I had never had any major behavioral problems with Jake and it was a bit concerning that they apparently were at school. “Why type of behavior?”

“It hasn’t been anything major, but over the last couple of months, he hasn’t participated in our show and tell days at all. I know that probably doesn’t sound like much, but the suddenness of it concerned me.”

“What do you mean he hasn’t been participating? I always make sure he has a toy or something for show and tell days.” This was certainly news to me and I wished he had called me before now. Though the timing of it, a couple months, told me it probably started around the time Dave had walked out of our lives.

“Have there been any major changes in his life recently? I know from talking with you previously that you had only recently become his primary caregiver, but can you think of anything else that might have been affecting him?” Tony sounded so earnest and I found myself nodding before I could even think about it. Jake’s teacher had known I was gay because when Dave still lived with us he would occasionally pick up Jake from school.

“Actually, a couple of months ago Dave moved out.” I probably wouldn’t have normally just blurted it out like that, but one thing I liked about Jake’s teacher was that he had never seemed to judge me for having a man for a partner. He’d always been friendly with both me and Dave. Something flickered in Tony’s eyes at that news but it was so fleeting that I must have imagined it. “About that same time, Jamie started going out of town more often so he didn’t get as much time with his mom.”

“It would certainly make sense if he had formed a relationship with Dave. He probably felt like he had been abandoned, by both his mom and Dave.” Tony leaned back slightly in his chair and I tried to ignore the way that the fabric of his shirt stretched across his chest.

I mentally shook myself out of my thoughts. It had been so much easier when Dave had been in the picture to ignore the fact that I was physically attracted to Jake’s teacher. He was out of bounds anyways and I wasn’t here to drool over him. I was here to talk about Jake and that needed to be my focus.

“I appreciate you calling me to let me know, but I do wish you had called me before now.” It was the truth. If Jake had been having issues for months, why was I just now hearing about it?

“I’m sorry that I didn’t. I had actually planned to call you for this meeting a couple weeks ago, but I’ve been out on bereavement after the death of my dad.” Tony’s voice was laced with pain and there was a slight hitch in his voice.

“I’m sorry to hear that, I know how hard that is.” It was true, I’d lost my own dad a couple years ago and I could clearly remember how difficult it had been to move past his death.

“Thank you, it has been, but I’m trying to move forward.” Tony gave a small smile, but it was easy to see that his heart wasn’t in it. “Though I know you didn’t come here to hear about me. The reason I called you now is because when I got back, I had noticed a complete change in Jake.”

“I’m hoping that’s a good thing.” I really did, but the tone of Tony’s voice didn’t sound like it was.

“It would be, but he’s kind of gone the completely other direction. He’s become disruptive to the rest of the class.”

I opened my mouth to speak but he held up his hand and I fell silent. Apparently he still had more to say and a part of me wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to hear it.

“It’s nothing completely bad, but he’s constantly talking about his new puppy to his classmates. I fully understand the excitement of a new pet, but I really can’t let it go on.”

I couldn’t stop the sigh. I had known he was excited about the puppy but I wasn’t sure how to keep him from talking about it at school. Hopefully Jamie would have an idea about how to keep him from disrupting class because I was drawing a blank. This was new territory for me and I wasn’t really sure what the best route would be to solve the issue.

“I can have a talk with him, but other than that I don’t really know how I can stop him from talking about Murray.”

“Actually, I’ve given it a bit of thought and I think our best course of action would be to bring Murray to show and tell on Monday. I’ve already cleared it with the principal, provided you’re willing to bring Murray when you bring Jake to school and stay until after show and tell so that you can take him home.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged, when were you thinking?” It wouldn’t be hard to stay at the school for an hour or so and if it would help Jake then I was more than willing.

“I’m thinking sooner rather than later.” Tony leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk, his fingers laced together as he smiled at me. “I was thinking that this coming Monday would be the perfect time.”

“That’s doable.” I tried to ignore the way his hair fell into his eyes when he leaned forward. I didn’t know why I was suddenly noticing all these things about my son’s teacher. It was certainly something I’d have to think about once I was home. A glance at the clock told me that I probably needed to get home to meet with Jamie, but I was strangely reluctant to leave.

“Perfect.” Tony stood and I followed suit. “I appreciate you being willing to come in on such short notice. My afternoon class will be here soon, so unless you have any questions I’ll let you get home.”

“I think I’m good.” I knew I needed to leave, but I was dragging it out as long as I could. After a minute of silence I couldn’t put it off any longer and held out my hand. I tried to ignore the shivers that went up my spine at the contact of his hand in mine and after a moment I released my grip. “I guess I’ll be seeing you on Monday then. Thank you for calling me.”

“You are very welcome. I’ll see you on Monday.”

I turned away and walked out of the classroom and back to the office to hand in my visitor’s badge. I was looking strangely forward to the time I’d spend in Jake’s class on Monday. It wasn’t because of Jake’s teacher, or so I told myself. Repeatedly. Maybe if I told myself enough I would actually start to believe it.