Chapter 1

One kind gesture on a rainy day, driving a student home, and the mother of Andrew's student Hunter kid's mother decided I was her personal chauffeur.

Every day she'd wait at the gate of the complex with her son, expecting me to drive the boy to and from school.

It wasn't exactly convenient, but I figured it was on my way anyway, so I let it go.

Then one day I took time off to go with my wife to her prenatal checkup, and when I didn't come down on schedule, Hunter's mother called me right away.

"Mr. Whitney, my Hunter's going to be late for school. How are you still sleeping in!"

That was when I remembered I'd forgotten to tell her. I quickly explained that I was with my wife at her checkup today, and told them not to wait.

Hunter's mother cut me off before I could finish.

"No, that won't work. My son's used to being picked up and dropped off now. You get back here."

"I don't even know what's wrong with you teachers, so desperate you go and knock somebody up, and now it's holding up my son's schooling!"

"She needs you at a checkup? So once she pops out the kid, are you going to stop teaching altogether?"

"That's not happening. You drop my son off today, then go tell your wife to get rid of it. Otherwise I'm filing a complaint at the school!"

I actually laughed, out of sheer disbelief. I never thought I'd meet a parent this unreasonable.

Too bad she'd picked the wrong guy. A complaint is the last thing I'm afraid of.

...

"Mr. Whitney, did you hear me?"

She was still going off on the other end.

I pushed the anger down and kept my voice cold.

"Ms. Hunter's mom, I gave your son a ride because it was on my way, out of goodwill. It was never my obligation."

"I never took a cent from you for it, so don't treat me like your personal driver."

"And another thing. My wife's pregnancy is our family's business. It's not your place to tell us what to do."

With that, I hung up.

My wife, Joyce Simmons, was sitting on the bench in the waiting area.

Seeing the look on my face, she glanced up and asked,

"Who was that? What's got you so worked up?"

I sat down beside her, twisted open the thermos, and handed it to her.

"A parent from my class."

"I gave her son a ride a few times when it was on my way, and now she treats me like a free chauffeur."

I hadn't wanted to repeat the ugly things she'd said, afraid it would upset Joyce.

But she knew me too well.

One look at me, and she knew it wasn't that simple.

"What else did she say?"

I hesitated a moment, then repeated what Hunter's mother had just said on the phone.

Joyce's face darkened at once.

"Is that woman sick in the head? What does my being pregnant have to do with her son's schooling?"

"You did her a favor giving her kid a ride, and now she's latched onto you!"

"You are not driving him anymore, period. What kind of insane parent is that!"

I nodded, feeling just as irritated inside.

The whole time I'd been driving Hunter, the messes his mother made were beyond counting.

The most ridexculous one was last month.

I got called into a last-minute meeting after work and messaged her to come pick up her son herself.

Instead she left Hunter sitting beside my car for over forty minutes while she went off to get her nails done.

By the time the meeting ended and I got back to the parking lot, it was already dark out.

I was so angry my head was buzzing. I called Hunter's mother right then and there,

demanding to know why she'd left the kid alone in the parking lot.

She answered like it was nothing.

"Oh, come on, Mr. Whitney, you were going to head home after the meeting anyway. What's the harm in him waiting a little?"

"My nail tech is really in demand. If I'd skipped this appointment I'd have had to wait ages for another."

Looking at Hunter shivering in the cold, I swallowed the curses right back down.

There was nothing to do but take him home.

Looking back now, I really was too easygoing, and that's exactly what let her get so brazen.

"Joyce Simmons, you're up. Exam Room Three."

The nurse calling her number pulled me out of it.

I quickly helped Joyce to her feet and walked her carefully into the exam room.

After a whole round of tests, the doctor looked at the ultrasound and spoke gravely.

"The pregnancy isn't very stable."

"Has the mother been under a lot of stress at work lately, not resting well?"

Joyce nodded softly.

She works at a design firm, and she'd been racing to finish a project, putting in a lot of overtime.

"Go home and stay on bed rest, and most importantly, keep your spirits calm."

"You cannot let yourself get upset again, or you'll lose the baby."

The doctor prescribed a few boxes of medication to protect the pregnancy and went over the precautions again and again.

I stood there listening, my palms cold with sweat.

"Doctor, don't worry. I'll take good care of her."

Back home, I got her into bed right away, then went to the kitchen to make her some soup.

But before the soup was done, my phone buzzed.

The caller ID showed Neil Lawrence, the grade-level director.

I hit answer.

"Andrew Whitney, come in tomorrow morning, but don't go to your classroom. Come straight to my office first."

Neil's tone was sharp, thick with that bureaucratic edge.

"Director Lawrence, is something wrong?" I asked.

"Wrong? You know exactly what you did. Don't play dumb."

"A parent brought a complaint straight to me!"

"You get here early tomorrow and explain yourself, clearly!"

And with that, he hung up.